Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Confirmed as First Black Woman US Supreme Court Justice

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After being nominated for a seat on the federal district court in 2010, she became a judge. After the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016, she was considered a possible nominee for SCOTUS. Obama instead nominated Merrick Garland, the current Attorney General, who was never confirmed in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Garland is the current attorney general of the Biden Administration. Jackson was nominated to succeed him and she was confirmed for the seat at the U.S. Court of Appeals Washington, D.C., where her judicial power is second only to the Supreme Court.

Jackson’s cases have had a significant impact on the law. She was part of the federal sentencing committee that overhauled mandatory minimal drug punishments. She was also opposed to many of the controversial legal moves made by Trump’s administration.

Additionally, she was a member of the bipartisan U.S. For four years, she was a member of the U.S. Sentencencing Commission.

During her confirmation hearings she was subject to attacks by Republicans about her judicial record. Many of them referred to her previous sentencing decisions in cases involving child pornography convicted. Her judicial record was supported by other judges from the ideological spectrum.

Republicans used her confirmation hearings to score political points by raising topics like critical race theory. This is not an issue in any Court case currently. However, Sen. Cory Booker (D.N.J.), used the hearings to voice support for Jackson and other Black women who have been unfairly treated in their professional lives.

The finality of Jackson’s confirmation was delayed several minutes because 99 Senators had cast votes, but Senator Rand Paul (R.KY) wasn’t present on the Senate floor. He voted against confirmation.

Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski (R.Alaska), and Mitt Romney (R.Utah) all voted for confirmation. The only Black senator, Sen. Tim Scott (R.S.C.), voted “no”.