Today, April 7, 2022, the Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court. Change Matrix (CM) is celebrating this historic day that marks Jackson’s placement as the Court’s first Black female justice.
“CM celebrates this historic moment in time and joins others in welcoming Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court,” says CM Founding Partner Rachele C. Espiritu, PhD. “Surely, she will serve as a model for many generations to come!”
Jackson said this of her perspective on her role during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing last month.
“I have been a judge for nearly a decade now, and I take that responsibility and my duty to be independent very seriously,” Jackson said. “I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath.”
Jackson was born in Washinton, D.C., and she was raised in Miami, Florida. She attended Harvard University as an undergraduate and then attended Harvard Law School, serving as an editor for the Harvard Law Review. Jackson’s legal career began with several legal clerkships, including one with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer whom she will replace when he retires from his role in the coming months.
From 2013 to 2021, Jackson served as a district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Jackson was also vice-chair of the United States Sentencing Commission from 2010 to 2014 and she has been a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers since 2016.
Jackson was confirmed with a 53-47 vote count.
