- Jackson, a 51-year-old appeals court judge, could serve on the high court for decades.
- She was confirmed by the Senate three months ago, picking up three GOP votes and all Democrats.
- Jackson is unlikely to upend the conservatives 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court.
WASHINGTON – Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former public defender and Miami native who rose to become a judge on a powerful federal appeals court, will make history Thursday when she is sworn in as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Jackson, 51, a Harvard-trained lawyer who was confirmed by the Senate nearly three months ago, will take the seat occupied by Associate Justice Stephen Breyer for nearly three decades. Breyer announced his retirement in January, clearing the way for President Joe Biden to name Jackson as his first pick for the nation’s highest court.
Currently a judge on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Jackson will take the oath of office at a fraught moment for the high court, as its decisions to overturn Roe v. Wade and expand access to handguns have exacerbated tensions among the justices and underscored divisions among Americans over culture war issues.
But none of that will be on display as Chief Justice John Roberts administers one oath of office to Jackson and Breyer – for whom Jackson clerked more than 20 years ago – administers the other. With that, Jackson will become the 104th associate justice – marking the first time women and people of color outnumber white men on the court.
When the justices return to Washington in October with Jackson in her seat, there will be four women and two African Americans on the nation’s highest bench for the first time in the court’s 233-year history.
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Jackson was confirmed 53-47, picking up the support of three Senate Republicans along with all Democrats. Because she is replacing Breyer, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, Jackson is not expected to change the court’s conservative tilt. Relatively young for a Supreme Court justice, Jackson could serve for decades.
Though Republicans largely praised Jackson’s temperament, some accused her of being soft on crime and questioned her role defending alleged terrorists who were classified as enemy combatants after the 9/11 attacks. Though some of that criticism was sharp – unfair, according to Democrats – Jackson sailed through the hearings.
Because she sat on Harvard University’s board of overseers, Jackson announced in March that she will recuse herself from a case pending at the Supreme Court challenging the affirmative action policies at Harvard College and at the University of North Carolina. Arguments in that appeal are expected to take place in the fall.
Jackson will be the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court. She will be the only justice with experience on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, a bipartisan agency that makes recommendations about criminal sentences in federal court On a court where many of her colleagues worked in presidential administrations before becoming appeals court judges, Jackson will be one of two justices – along with Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor – to have served as a trial court judge.
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Some of Jackson’s decisions drew criticism from conservatives, including a 2019 case in which she ruled that President Donald Trump’s former White House counsel, Don McGahn, had to testify as part of a congressional impeachment inquiry. She was also…
Read More: Ketanji Brown Jackson to become first Black woman on Supreme Court