By Charlotte Corcoran
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Kentanji Brown Jackson made American history this year, being nominated by President Biden to the Supreme Court in late February.
Kentanji Brown Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., but she was raised in Miami, Florida, where she attended local public schools for middle and high school. Both her parents were educators, and her father started law school when she was still in preschool. Jackson credits the time she spent with her father while he completed homework as the event that sparked her love for the law and set her to follow into the career.
Jackson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1992 and 1996, respectively. She was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
After law school, Kentanji Brown Jackson served as a law clerk under Judge Patti B. Saris and Judge Bruce M. Seyla. She spent a year working at a private practice and then clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, the very Justice she is replacing.
She returned to private legal practices for a few years before becoming assistant special counsel to the United States Sentencing Commission. She then worked as a public defender from 2005 to 2007.
In 2009, Barack Obama nominated Kentanji Brown Jackson for the position of vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and she was unanimously appointed by the U.S. Senate. One of the most notable influences of the Commission was helping to amend sentencing regulations for crack cocaine convictions.
In 2012, Barack Obama nominated Jackson to become a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She was confirmed and served in this position from 2013 to 2021.
During this time, Jackson wrote a decision on the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives v. McGahn (2019), which compelled a former White House Counsel to the Trump Administration to obey a subpoena to appear at an impeachment inquiry. Her ruling included the phrase "presidents are not kings," which garnered much attention. However, the 100-page decision took her four months to write, which prevented some congressional oversight efforts from taking place before the 2020 election.
In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kentanji Brown Jackson to become a United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings' started on March 21st, 2022 and lasted four days. This vital process in the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice allows senators to gather information, pose questions, and decide whether they will vote to confirm or deny a nomination.
She received aggressive questioning from some senators on subjects including LGBTQ+ rights, Brown's religion, previous rulings, and her opinion on interpreting the Constitution.
In response to accusations of being soft on crime, she spoke about the members of her family who served in law enforcement and how she understands the need for law enforcement.
Other questions she faced included Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) asking her to define the word "woman" and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) holding up the book Antiracist Baby and asking, "Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?"
The Senate Judiciary Committee deliberated for several days before voting on Jackson's nomination. All the Committee members voted along party lines, resulting in an 11-11 split. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer discharged nomination from the Judiciary Committee, sending the vote to the floor of the Senate.
On Thursday, April 7th, the Senate confirmed Kentanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court with a 53-47 vote, with three Republicans joining the 50 Democrats to vote in her favor.
Jackson's nomination and confirmation are especially historic because she will be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
In the U.S. Supreme Court's 233-year history, a total of 115 Justices have served on the Court as of October 2020. During this time, only five of the Justices have been women, and two have been Black, both men.
RPCS Senior Kenna Mitchell reflected on the importance of Jackson's nomination: "Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson's appointment is something that personally resonated deeply with myself and I know so many other Black women and women of color in general. I am proud to be able to watch this historic event come to fruition but it is so long overdue and watching clips from the confirmation hearings were honestly hard to watch but also very real for so many people."
She continued, "My opinion of Ketanji Brown Jackson could not be any more positive. I admire her and her strength, resilience, and passion for the law and upholding the American democracy."
When asked about Kentaji Brown Jackson's nomination and confirmation, US History teacher Ms. Marx gave this recommendation for anyone interested in learning more: "How to really "get" the historic importance of this nomination? Watch Cory Booker's speech at the hearings – he not only celebrates Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to be on the Supreme Court, but he honors her as a human being. His words, his honest emotion brought Judge Jackson – and others – to tears. Everyone should watch."
Jackson will officially be sworn in as the 116th Supreme Court Justice this summer when Justice Breyer retires at the end of the Court's session.
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