US President Joe Biden has appointed Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court. She will become the first black woman to sit there. “It’s time we had a court that reflects all the talents and greatness of our nation”said the Democratic leader, formally presenting the magistrate during a ceremony at the White House.
The 51-year-old judge, “extraordinary skills” according to Mr. Biden, then took the floor, under the eyes of another woman embodying the American dream for people from minorities: Vice-President Kamala Harris, of Jamaican father and Indian mother.
“I just hope that my life, my career, my love of the country and the Constitution, and my commitment to the rule of law and the sacred principles on which this nation was built, will be an inspiration to the future generations of Americans”reacted Mme Jackson.
The announcement of the nomination, delayed due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is expected to spark a battle for his confirmation in a sharply divided Senate. Mitch McConnellthe leader of the Republicans in the Senate, who had hastened the confirmation of the nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett, promised a process “rigorous and comprehensive”.
Previously a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Ketanji Brown Jackson will replace liberal judge Stephen Breyer, appointed in 1994 by Bill Clinton, who announced his retirement in January. The balance of the Supreme Court, of six conservatives for three liberals, will remain unchanged by this appointment.
Sixth woman to serve on the Supreme Court
By appointing her, the American president is keeping his promise. During his campaign, candidate Biden had pledged, if the opportunity arose, to appoint an African-American to the Supreme Court, an institution that was composed exclusively of white men for nearly two centuries. At 51, Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the sixth woman to sit on the highest court in the United States. Of the 115 people who served on the Supreme Court, only two were black, and they were both men.
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The Senate already voted last year, 53 to 44, to confirm the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to which she had been appointed by the president. She had the support of three Republican senators at the time, and was asked during her hearing about the role race played in her decisions. She replied that she did not play any.
Body rooted in conservatism by Donald Trump
The Supreme Court, the highest American judicial body, whose primary mission is to ensure the constitutionality of laws, plays a crucial role in resolving important societal debates in the United States. It is made up of nine judges, each of whom is appointed for life by the American president with necessary confirmation by the Senate.
Before Mr. Biden, Donald Trump had the opportunity to appoint three justices to the Supreme Court, anchoring the case in conservatism possibly for several decades. Sick or elderly, members of the Supreme Court can retire from the age of 70, but they rarely do.
Sitting in a building facing the Capitol, the Supreme Court plays an essential role in the development of jurisprudence. Its judgments establish the legal standard, in particular on sensitive issues: abortion, homosexual marriage, racial discrimination, death penalty, electoral disputes, carrying a weapon, etc. Its judges enjoy de facto tenure and, as a guarantee of their independence, the same guaranteed remuneration for life.