Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson? Joe Biden's judicial pick could become first Black woman in Supreme Court
A federal judge, who is a possible future Supreme Court pick of President Joe Biden, cleared a major hurdle on Thursday, May 20, in her nomination to an influential appellate court. She won the approval in a Senate committee despite Republican opposition. On a 13-9 vote, the Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee approved US district judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
If a vacancy on the Supreme Court arises, Biden has promised to name a Black woman in a historic first, and Jackson is widely seen as a potential pick. Jackson is one of the most powerful Black women in the federal judiciary and she is still relatively young at 50 years old. Jackson was nominated by Biden to the DC Circuit to replace Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was also his attorney general. Some justices have used that appellate court as a springboard to the Supreme Court in the past.
READ MORE
Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Ketanji Brown Jackson is an attorney and jurist who has served on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as a United States district judge since 2013.
Born September 14, 1970, in Washington, DC, and raised in Miami, Florida, Jackson was a high school debate champion before going to Harvard University for college and law school, where he served as an editor on the Harvard Law Review. She began her legal career with three clerkships, one of which was with Justice Stephen Breyer of the United States Supreme Court.
According to the Washington Post, Johnny and Ellery Brown, her parents, both graduated from HBCUs and worked as an attorney and school principal, respectively. From 1984 to 1988, Jackson attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School where she was a national oratory champion. She graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in government, magna cum laude, in 1992 and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1996, where she was an editor of Harvard Law Review.
Jackson worked as a law clerk for three federal judges including Judge Patti B Saris of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (1996–1997) and Judge Bruce M Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1997–1998). From 1999 to 2000, she worked as a clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer of the United States Supreme Court, according to records on the Federal Judicial Center.
She is related to ex-House Speaker Paul Ryan
Jackson is related by marriage to former US House Speaker Paul Ryan, ABC News reported. “We’re family, by marriage,” Ryan explained in a 2012 hearing. “Her brother and sister-in-law, who are my brother and sister-in-law, William and Dana Jackson, are here with us as well today.” Jackson is married to Patrick G Jackson, a surgeon, since 1996, and the couple has two daughters. Patrick is the twin brother of Ryan’s brother-in-law William Jackson.
“Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanji’s intellect, for her character, for her integrity is unequivocal,” Ryan said at her December 2012 nomination hearing. “She’s an amazing person, and I favorably recommend her consideration.”