Ketanji Brown Jackson breaks double-glass ceiling with Historic U.S. Supreme Court Justice nomination

NATIONWIDE (April 7, 2022) – On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Because of her diverse and broad public service, Judge Jackson has a unique appreciation of how critical it is for the justice system to be fair and impartial. With multiple law enforcement officials in her family, she also has a personal understanding of the stakes of the legal system. Judge Jackson’s brother served as a police officer in Baltimore after serving in the U.S. Army and being deployed to Iraq and Egypt and two of her uncles were police officers in Miami.

On April 7, 2022, a bipartisan group of Senators confirmed Judge Jackson’s nomination to become the 116th member of the United State Supreme Court.

After Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, President Biden conducted a rigorous process to identify his replacement. President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the rule of law. And an individual who is committed to equal justice under the law and who understands the profound impact that the Supreme Court’s decisions have on the lives of the American people.

Former President Obama nominated Jackson for the district court position in D.C. in 2013, where she served for eight years before elevating to the D.C. appellate court last year. When answering a question during her last confirmation hearing about her judicial philosophy, Jackson said:

“I do not have a judicial philosophy per se, other than to apply the same method of thorough analysis to every case, regardless of the parties.”

Over the course of her legal career, Jackson has sat for three Senate confirmations and received minimal pushback from senators in that time. She was confirmed to her current position last summer with 53 votes in the Senate, including those of Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

During her time as a district judge she ruled in several high-profile cases, including a number involving the Trump administration.

President nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as the next Justice on the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and has an unusual breadth of experience in our legal system, giving her the perspective to be an exceptional Justice.

About Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Judge Jackson was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Miami, Florida. Her parents attended segregated primary schools, then attended historically black colleges and universities. Both started their careers as public school teachers and became leaders and administrators in the Miami-Dade Public School System. When Judge Jackson was in preschool, her father attended law school. In a 2017 lecture, Judge Jackson traced her love of the law back to sitting next to her father in their apartment as he tackled his law school homework—reading cases and preparing for Socratic questioning—while she undertook her preschool homework coloring books.

Judge Jackson stood out as a high achiever throughout her childhood. She was a speech and debate star who was elected “mayor” of Palmetto Junior High and student body president of Miami Palmetto Senior High School. But like many Black women, Judge Jackson still faced naysayers. When Judge Jackson told her high school guidance counselor she wanted to attend Harvard, the guidance counselor warned that she should not set her “sights so high.”

That did not stop Judge Jackson. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, then attended Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Judge Jackson lives with her husband, Patrick, and their two daughters, in Washington, DC.

Experience

Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Vice Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission

Public defender

Supreme Court Clerk

Perspective on the Legal System

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Judge Jackson comes from a law enforcement family, with two uncles who were career law enforcement officers: one was a Miami-Dade County sex crimes detective, and the other rose through the ranks of the City of Miami Police Department to become the Chief of Police. Her brother served as an undercover officer in a drug-sting unit in Baltimore after graduating from college, so she should know quite well the difficulties and dangers our officers face in the line of duty every single day … From our analysis of Judge Jackson’s record and some of her cases, we believe she has considered the facts and applied the law consistently and fairly on a range of issues. There is little doubt that she has the temperament, intellect, legal experience, and family background to have earned this appointment. We are reassured that, should she be confirmed, she would approach her future cases with an open mind and treat issues related to law enforcement fairly and justly. We wish her well as the confirmation process begins.

Fraternal Order of Police

Judge Jackson by all accounts possesses the qualities essential in a Supreme Court justice: a devotion to the rule of law; a commitment to judicial independence; an ability and willingness to collaborate with colleagues whose views and philosophies differ from her own. She also appears to be a keen and careful legal thinker. A graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School, she was an editor of the law review and went on to clerk for Justice Stephen G. Breyer, whom Mr. Biden has chosen her to replace. She put in eight years as a trial judge before ascending to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 2021.

Washington Post Editorial Board

Many of us and our colleagues have interacted with Judge Jackson and have found her to possess incredible intellect, excellent legal ability, and a commitment to the highest ethical and professional standards. Throughout her career, she has promoted compassion, dignity, and respect for all parties. As demonstrated by her eight years on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Jackson is a fair and impartial jurist. She has authored more than 560 judicial decisions, adjudicating her fair share of complex legal questions in ways that have significantly advanced the legal profession and our understanding of principles enshrined in the Constitution. Her decisions are invariably well-reasoned and thoughtful, and she is singularly prepared to assume the role of appellate jurist.

Letter by former United States Attorneys from federal districts across the country and other former senior Department of Justice officials

Judge Jackson, who currently serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has outstanding qualifications to serve on the Supreme Court. Her impressive legal career has provided her with many opportunities; and she has experienced the justice system from all perspectives – as a federal appellate judge, district court judge, vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, private practitioner, assistant public defender, and U.S. Supreme Court clerk for Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. Her outstanding academic credentials, integrity, and commitment to following the facts, impartiality, fairness, and the rule of law are the qualities essential to serving on the Supreme Court.

83 Republican and Democratic Former State Attorneys General

As lawyers and others who have served in appointed positions in Republican administrations or hold conservative political or legal views, we write to urge the speedy confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court. Many of us know her personally, have appeared before her, or have served in legal organizations with her. While some of us might differ concerning particular positions she has taken as a judge, we are united in our view that she is exceptionally well-qualified, given her breadth of experience, demonstrated ability, and personal attributes of intellect and character. Indeed, we think that her confirmation on consensus basis would strengthen the Court and the nation in important ways.

Conservatives and those appointed to positions in Republican Administrations