The Senate in the US confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to be elevated to the nation’s high court.
The Senate has voted 53 to 47 to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the 116th Supreme Court justice. When sworn in this summer, Jackson will be the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s high court and join Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas as a justice of color on the high court.
Jackson’s confirmation fulfills a major campaign promise from President Biden: to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.
President Biden called the vote a “historic moment” for the nation. “We’ve taken another step toward making our highest court reflect the diversity of America,” Biden posted on Twitter with an image of him taking a selfie with Jackson.
Leaving the Senate after the vote, Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “overjoyed.” “I am feeling a deep sense of pride in who we are as a nation, that we just did what we did as it relates to the highest court of our land,” she told reporters.
Republicans attacked Jackson as a partisan and leaned heavily on culture war fights. Multiple Republicans, including Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Josh Hawley of Missouri, accused the judge of being lenient toward child sexual abusers.
About Ketanji Brown Jackson
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1996, Ketanji Brown Jackson went on to clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer — who she will replace on the high court when Breyer formally retires this summer.
When Breyer announced his retirement he described Jackson as “one of the brightest minds in the country.”
Jackson, 51, served eight years as a federal trial court judge and last June was confirmed for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Prior to becoming a judge, Jackson worked as a public defender.