Kentanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed by the Senate to the Supreme Court. This makes her the first Black woman Supreme Court justice.
On Thursday, the Senate voted 53 to 47 in favor of Jackson’s confirmation. Three Republicans joined all Democratic senators in voting “yes.” Jackson Justice Stephen Breyer will be replacingHe announced his retirement earlier in the year. She is expected be sworn into office. sometime mid-summer.
Jackson was the most progressive person being consideredPresident Joe Biden had promised to nominate a Black woman for the High Court. Jackson, a former public defender, is the only person on the Supreme Court who has represented criminal defendants, including people detained in Guantánamo Bay. Thurgood Marshall, who retired from the Supreme Court in 1991, was the last justice to have experience as a public defense attorney.
Jackson was a D.C. Jackson was a Circuit Court judge. He made rulings in favoring unions, such as one in 2018, when she rejected executive orders crafted by former President Donald Trump to limit federal workers’ ability to collectively bargain.
With multiple confirmation hearings for federal judgeships under her belt (most recently for her role in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C.), Circuit, she is the Highly vetted modern Supreme Court justice.
Jackson faced a string of baseless attacks during her confirmation hearing from far right lawmakers. They used it to raise their bigoted grievances over racial injustice and LGBTQ people. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Berated Jackson seemingly just for being Black, framing her as a proponent of the right’s fabricated version of movements for racial justice, while Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) demanded that Jackson define what a woman is in a series of questions aimed at attacking trans people.
Progressive lawmakers celebrated Jackson’s confirmation.
“Watch your step, concrete ceiling just shattered,” wrote Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts). “Congratulations to the Honorable SUPREME. COURT. JUSTICE. Ketanji Brown Jackson. Now read that again.”
This story is currently in progress and will be updated.
