Biden announces Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson 

D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who appears above being sworn into office by Judge Sri Srinivasan while her husband Patrick Jackson holds a bible, will be President Joe Biden’s first nominee to the US Supreme Court. 

Retired District Judge U.W. Clemon of Alabama said in a letter to Biden that Jackson’s decisions in the case Ross v. Lockheed Martin are “a bell sounding the alarm that if Judge Jackson is appointed to the Supreme Court, simple justice and equality in the workplace will be sacrificed.”

Clemon said Jackson not only “gave the ax to a settlement designed to benefit numerous Black workers,” she also refused to allow the Black workers to take discovery of Lockheed’s books and records to prove class-action status. She also effectively denied the plaintiffs’ right to appeal by taking 54 days to issue her order denying class certification, Clemon said.

That criticism did not deter Biden.

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Harvard law and history professor Kenneth W. Mack and former Judge Andre M. Davis of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, defended the ruling that she made as a district court judge.

Biden called Jackson “one of our nation’s brightest legal minds” as he announced his intention Friday to nominate her for a seat on the Supreme Court to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who announced his retirement last month.

Biden is following through on a promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court in its 233-year history.

Democrats are determined to move swiftly to confirm Jackson, whom Biden elevated last year to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) has publicly set a goal of confirming Biden’s nominee before the Easter recess, which is scheduled to begin April 8.

Biden will announce his intent to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently a judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Judge Jackson is one of the nation’s brightest legal minds.  If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Since Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, Biden has conducted a rigorous process to identify his replacement. 

Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the rule of law.  He also sought a nominee—much like Justice Breyer—who is wise, pragmatic, and has a deep understanding of the Constitution as an enduring charter of liberty. 

The President sought an individual who is committed to equal justice under the law and who understands the profound impact that the Supreme Court’s decisions have on the lives of the American people.

As the longtime Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the President took seriously the Constitution’s requirement that he make this appointment “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,” seeking the advice of Senators in both parties.  

He studied the histories and case records of candidates, consulted legal experts, and met with candidates.

A former clerk for Justice Breyer, Jackson has broad experience across the legal profession – as a federal appellate judge, a federal district court judge, a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an attorney in private practice, and as a federal public defender.

Jackson has been confirmed by the Senate with votes from Republicans as well as Democrats three times.  

The White House said Jackson has devoted the majority of her career to serving the public—as a U.S. Sentencing Commission lawyer and commissioner; as a federal public defender; and as a federal judge. Judge Jackson currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

From 2013 to 2021, she served as a United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. She has been confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis three times – twice as judge and once to serve on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Miami, Florida.  Her parents attended segregated primary schools in the South, then attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Both started their careers as public school teachers and became leaders and administrators in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. 

When Jackson told her high school guidance counselor she wanted to attend Harvard, the guidance counselor warned that she should not to set her sights “so high.” She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, then attended Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

After law school, Jackson served in Justice Breyer’s chambers as a law clerk.  Judge Jackson served as a federal public defender from 2005 to 2007, representing defendants on appeal who did not have the means to pay for a lawyer.  If confirmed, she would be the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.

Prior to serving as a judge, Jackson followed in the footsteps of her mentor by working on the U.S. Sentencing Commission—an important body, bipartisan by design, that President Biden fought to create as a member of the U.S. Senate. 

Her work there focused on reducing unwarranted sentencing disparities and ensuring that federal sentences were just and proportionate.

Jackson lives with her husband, Patrick, who serves as Chief of the Division of General Surgery at Georgetown University Hospital, and two daughters, in Washington, D.C.