Newsman: President Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court, elevating an African American woman for the first time to a seat on the high court bench. It’s also the first opportunity for Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to help shape a Court that has grown sharply more conservative in recent years, even if his appointment will not alter the current ideological balance.
At a formal White House ceremony Friday afternoon, Biden said, “it is my honor to introduce to the country a daughter of former public school teachers, a proven consensus builder, an accomplished lawyer, a distinguished jurist, one of the most — on one of the nation’s most prestigious courts.”
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” he said.”And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications.”
Jackson, in turn, said she was “truly humbled” by “the extraordinary honor” and gave credit to “the grace of God” and her parents for bringing her to this historic moment.
At age 51, Jackson currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to which she was named by Biden and confirmed by the Senate last year with Republican support. The president called Jackson late Thursday to inform her of the decision, a source familiar with the conversation said.
Jackson, a former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her.
Born in D.C. but raised in Miami, Jackson comes from an elite legal pedigree as a graduate of Harvard Law School but also has experience representing everyday Americans in the legal system as a federal public defender.
Jackson has been vetted and confirmed by the Senate three times – twice for appointments to the federal bench, a third time for a seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Not since Justice Clarence Thomas was nominated in 1991 has a Supreme Court candidate been scrutinized by the Senate as many times.
It was the Obama-Biden administration that first appointed her to the federal bench in 2013. Last year, Biden met one-on-one with Jackson at the White House before nominating her to the D.C. Circuit.
The president is impressed by her “experience in roles at all levels of the justice system, her character and her legal brilliance,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said this month.
Jackson has won praise from grassroots progressive, civil rights and legal groups, particularly for her work as vice chair of the bipartisan U.S. Sentencing Commission between 2010 and 2014, when she played a key role in major criminal justice reforms.
Jackson joined a unanimous vote to reduce federal sentencing guidelines for some nonviolent drug offenders and make the changes retroactive – moves backed by members of both parties.
Earlier this month, Judge Jackson published her first appeals court opinion – a unanimous decision in favor of a large union of federal government workers contesting new federal labor guidelines that would have made collective bargaining more difficult. Jackson concluded the changes were “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Late last year, Judge Jackson joined a unanimous appeals court panel decision rejecting former President Donald Trump’s attempt to shield his records from review by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. The decision recently affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jackson’s former colleagues and associates describe her approach as “Breyer-esque,” qualities Biden has explicitly sought to replicate on the bench: moderate, pragmatic, and a consensus-builder.
Democrats have the votes to confirm Jackson without Republican support, but President Biden has said he hopes to win over some members of the other party.
Born in D.C. but raised in Miami, Jackson comes from an elite legal pedigree as a graduate of Harvard Law School but also has experience representing everyday Americans in the legal system as a federal public defender
Jackson attended Miami-Dade public schools. Her mother was a public high school principal in the county, while her father was a teacher and later county school board attorney. Her younger brother – her only sibling – served in the military and did tours in combat. Two uncles have been law enforcement officers.
Her husband, Patrick Jackson, is a surgeon in the Washington, D.C., area, where together they have raised two daughters.
Jackson, a former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her.
Jackson has been vetted and confirmed by the Senate three times – twice for appointments to the federal bench, a third time for a seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Not since Justice Clarence Thomas was nominated in 1991 has a Supreme Court candidate been scrutinized by the Senate as many times.
Late last year, Judge Jackson joined a unanimous appeals court panel decision rejecting former President Donald Trump’s attempt to shield his records from review by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. The decision recently affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her nomination fulfills a promise Biden made during the 2020 presidential campaign ahead of the South Carolina primary when he relied heavily on support from the state’s Black voters.
