“She steps forward to take Judge (Stephen) Breyer’s place on the court with an exceptionally accomplished and far-reaching record … She has served both in public service, as a federal public defender, and in private practice as an accomplished lawyer,” Biden said in a message.
As he delivered his remarks, the president was flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Justice Brown.
“Judge Jackson is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and has unusually broad experience in our legal system, giving her the prospect of being an exceptional judge,” the White House statement read. make the announcement hours before.
If confirmed in the Senate, with a vote of half plus one (51 votes), Brown Jackson will become the first black female judge on the High Court.
The selection of an African-American judge for this lifetime position had been a campaign promise of Biden, who said that it was “a debt that has a long time” the fact that in its 223 years of history the Court has never had a woman of that racial minority.
The nominee must replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who formalized his retirement on January 28 at the White House with the president. The White House reported that Biden will give a message Friday afternoon from the presidential residence to introduce Brown.
Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson
Jackson is a graduate of Harvard Law School and is an ‘old acquaintance’ of Judge Breyer, for whom she was a law clerk from 1999 to 2000. Jackson was an attorney in the private sector, practiced as a public defender and worked on the Sentencing Commission from USA.
President Barack Obama nominated her to be a federal trial court judge in the District of Columbia in 2013. Biden elevated her to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she has served since June 2021.
Jackson was part of a three-judge panel that ruled against former President Donald Trump’s effort not to turn over documents to the Congressional Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on Capitol Hill.
The judge is 51 years old and has a (family) connection with the Republicans. She is related by her marriage to former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin. Jackson’s husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson, who is a surgeon, is the twin brother of Ryan’s brother-in-law. The judge and her husband have two daughters.
The Supreme Court and the fight in the Senate
“From a solid list of possible candidates, President Biden has chosen an extraordinary candidate,” the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrat Dick Durbin, said in a statement after the nomination was made official.
“To be the first to make history in our nation, you need to have an exceptional life story. The achievements of Judge Brown Jackson are well known to the Senate Judiciary Committee, as we passed it in the DC Circuit less than a year ago with bipartisan support,” explained Durbin, who offered to start “immediately” on the confirmation process.
Analysis indicates that Biden’s nomination would anticipate a fight that will come in the Senate for the process of voting and ratifying the judge. The climate of polarization in Congress anticipated a fight for the nomination, even before knowing the name of the elected judge.
However, the Republicans cannot stop the nomination on a mathematical issue: in the Senate there are 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats and in the event of a tie, the Democrats can break it with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also president. of the Senate.
These signs have discouraged Republicans who aspire to a more forceful confrontation.
The racial debate by the Supreme Court
However, many Republicans are eager to take the opportunity to debate the race issue in the confirmation process, questioning the fact that Biden has said that an African-American would be chosen, something that ‘input’ leaves out suitable candidates from other races.
McConnell distanced himself from such criticism: “I heard that they thought it was inappropriate for the president to announce that he was appointing an African-American woman… I honestly didn’t think it was inappropriate,” he said.