Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed to US Supreme Court News
The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmed to US Supreme Court

The US Senate Thursday voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court.

Jackson was confirmed with bipartisan support and received a Senate vote of 53-47. GOP Senators Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski crossed party lines in favor of the nomination.

Two weeks ago, Jackson went through four days of hearings regarding her nomination. On Monday, the US Senate voted to move her nomination to the Senate Floor after the Judiciary Committee deadlocked along party lines. On Thursday, the Senate voted to confirm Jackson to the Supreme Court. 

US Senate Committee Chair Dick Durbin described Judge Jackson as “showing dignity, grace and poise and the nation saw the temperament of a good, strong person who is ready to serve on the highest court in the law” despite accusations and narratives about her sentencing practices and policies.

Jackson is an alumnus of Harvard School of Law and began her legal career as a clerk for Justice Steven Breyer, her predecessor, who helped cultivate her legal talents. Jackson then served as a federal public defender and the Vice Chair of the US Sentencing Commission. Jackson has served a year as judge with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and over 9 years as a federal judge on the US District Court for the DC Circuit.

Jackson will become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court and will be the successor to Justice Steven Breyer. Jackson will be the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the sixth woman to serve on the bench. She will be the first justice to have been a former federal public defender.

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