Ketanji Brown Jackson has been sworn in as the newest aide to the Supreme Court, becoming the first black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court. Along with essential rulings on abortion and gun rights, the appointment is one of the most consequential Supreme Court terms in recent memory.
Ms Jackson, 51, will replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who will join the court’s three-member liberal minority. She accepts a “grave responsibility” for the role, she said in a statement.
The former public defender joins the court at a difficult period in its history. The nine-member court is currently divided between judges appointed by six Republicans and three elected by Democrats.
In recent weeks it has sought to overturn a 50-year-old Rowe v Wade ruling on abortion, repeal a New York law restricting gun-carrying rights, and limit the US Environmental Protection Agency’s power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Gave many blockbuster decisions.
The lifetime appointment will likely keep Jackson on the bench for decades but will not change the current ideological balance of the court. Jackson’s inclusion on the court means that its liberal minority, Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, will be made up entirely of women.
US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, announced her nomination in February. In April, three Republicans crossed the aisle to seal her appointment to the US Senate.
During her confirmation, Democrats spoke about Ms Jackson’s experience working as a public defender. She will be the first Supreme Court justice since Thurgood Marshall—the first black person appointed to the highest judicial body—to have career experience representing criminal defendants.
Ms Jackson, a Washington DC native, previously sat on the DC Circuit’s influential US Court of Appeals.
She holds two degrees from Harvard University and once served as Harvard Law Review editor. She worked as a public defender in Washington before joining a private practice before her judicial appointments.