By Alana Mohan
With Justice Steven Bryer announcing his retirement, President Joe Biden has been conducting a rigorous process to find his nominee. Biden sought an individual with exceptional credentials, dedication to the rule of law, and commitment to equal justice under the law. After this rigorous process, Biden has determined that his nominee will be Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. If confirmed, Jackson will serve on the United States Supreme Court.
President Biden made this decision on February 22, 2022. Jackson is the first-ever black woman nominated to become a Supreme Court Justice and so if confirmed will become the first black woman Supreme Court Justice.
Judge Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. but moved to Miami, Florida, where she was raised. Both of her parents attended segregated primary schools and historically black colleges. Both parents went on to have careers as public-school teachers. Judge Jackson can trace her love for the law back to her preschool days.
After years of being a teacher, her father decided to attend law school, where Jackson remembers watching him doing homework and studying for exams. Judge Jackson later attended Harvard University, graduating with magna cum laude and Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude.
Jackson started her legal career with three clerkships, one even being with prior Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer. Jackson was also a public defender for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. While working in this position, it was said that Jackson would win uncommon victories that reduced or erased long prison terms. In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Jackson to become vice-chair of the United States Sentencing Commission, and the U.S. senate confirmed her from a unanimous vote.
Jackson went on to put much of her focus on the reduction of drug-related sentences. The “drug minus two” amendment was enacted while she was in this position, significantly decreasing sentences for drug-related crimes. Barack Obama had also nominated Jackson for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in 2012. The full Senate confirmed her in 2013.
Jackson can be described as a liberal-leaning judge, as her actions and rulings can show. During her time in District Court, Jackson wrote multiple decisions adverse to the positions of the Trump Administration. She had also challenged the Department of Homeland Security to elaborate on the agency’s definition of which non-citizens can be deported, showing her interest in protecting non-citizens.
As mentioned earlier, Jackson strives to decrease drug-related sentencing, which is a liberal-dominated fight. Republican senators have also painted her as a liberal on race, gender, guns, and abortion rights. Judge Jackson’s seating on the United States Supreme Court may not affect the short term, as there will still be a conservative majority.
Her confirmation will alter the approaches some of the justices may take. Her experience as a Black woman in America offers something that the Court has never seen before, and her presence on the Court will likely alter the parameters of public policy in the United States.
The final day of confirmation hearings was Thursday, March 24, 2022. Senators will vote regarding Jackson’s confirmation on April 4, 2022. In the two previous days of senator questioning, Jackson spent about 22 hours taking questions. A simple majority vote is needed for Jackson to be confirmed into the United States Supreme Court. There being 100 senators, there is a chance there could be a 50/50 vote. No Democrats have signaled that they will vote against Jackson.
On the other hand, no Republicans have signaled that they will vote in favor of her. During the confirmation process for her U.S. Court of Appeals position, three Republican senators voted in favor of her confirmation. These three senators have shown no signs of voting in favor of her confirmation now.
