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I was traveling and with a client all day yesterday — otherwise, I would have posted this in a more timely manner. Better late than never, I hope.
Congratulations to D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court was confirmed by the Senate yesterday in a 53-47 vote. All of the Senate Democrats voted to confirm, as well as three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mitt Romney (R-UT).
Justice-Elect Jackson, 51, will succeed Justice Stephen Breyer when he retires at the end of the current Supreme Court term. She is expected to be sworn in sometime this summer.
Judge Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Miami. Both her undergraduate (magna cum laude) and law (cum laude) degrees are from Harvard University. She actually clerked for Justice Breyer, which makes her an appropriate choice to succeed him on the Court. She was a federal judge in the District of Columbia from 2013 until 2021, appointed by President Barack Obama. In June 2021, President Biden appointed her to the District of Columbia Circuit, which is the federal appellate court for the District. Judge Jackson has also been in private practice and a federal public defender, and was Vice Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
When she is sworn in, she will be the first Black woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice and only the third Black Justice. According to news reports, she will also be the first federal public defender to serve on the Court.
Politically, she is expected to be “liberal-leaning,” similar to her predecessor. How that will play out for employers remains to be seen, but we’ll worry about that tomorrow. Congratulations, Your Honor!
Image Credit: By H2rty – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83533281.
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