The United States Senate on Thursday confirmed the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court Judge, Reuters reported. With this, she will be the first Black woman judge to serve in the Supreme Court.
Fifty-three members of the Senate voted in favour of Jackson and 47 against her.
Among those who favoured Jackson included three members of the Republican party – Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney – who crossed party lines, according to The New York Times. The 100-member Senate is equally split between Democratic and Republican leaders, with Vice President Kamala Harris having a deciding vote in the case of a tie.
Jackson, who is currently serving at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, will replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who will retire in June, according to Bloomberg.
Jackson would be formally sworn in after Breyer’s retirement.
United States President Joe Biden, who had nominated Jackson, said that this was a historic moment for America.
“We have taken another step toward making our highest court reflect the diversity of America,” Biden tweeted. “She [Jackson] will be an incredible Justice, and I was honoured to share this moment with her.”
In his presidential campaign, Biden had promised to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
The Democratic National Committee said that for over 200 years, the Supreme Court heard cases concerning Black women without the perspective of a Black woman.
“That changes now,” the committee said in a statement. “Judge Jackson has shown girls – especially girls of colour – how big they can dream and just how profound an impact they can have on our nation.”
However, Republican leaders had questioned Jackson’s judicial record, including the sentences she handed down. They alleged that her sentencing in child pornography cases have been “too soft”, according to The New York Times.
“When it came to one of the most consequential decisions a president can make, a lifetime appointment to our highest court, the Biden administration let the radicals run the show,” Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said.
So, far 115 people have served as judges in the Supreme Court since 1789. Besides Jackson, there have been only two Black justices, both men – Clarence Thomas and Thurgood Marshall.
Jackson is only sixth woman justice in the Supreme Court. The ones currently serving are Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
Sandra Day O’Connor served between 1981 and 2006, and renowned judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was appointed in 1993, died in September 2020.
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