By Kerry L. Erisman
Faculty Member, Legal Studies
On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the Supreme Court. If the nomination is confirmed, Judge Jackson will serve as the 116th Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In addition, Judge Jackson will be the first African American female to serve on the Court. When nominating Jackson, President Biden stated that for too long, “our courts haven’t looked like America. I believe that it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation.”
Jackson thanked President Biden for his faith in her. She also noted that “I could only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the Constitution and my commitment to upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded, will inspire future generations of Americans.”
Who is Judge Jackson? What are her qualifications? What type of Supreme Court justice will she be? To fully explore her potential influence on the Supreme Court, it is important to examine her background.
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The Early Years of Judge Jackson
Judge Jackson was born in 1970 in the District of Columbia. She was raised in Miami, Florida, by her parents, who both started as public school teachers and always stressed the importance of education.
When Jackson was in preschool, her father attended law school. Jackson previously reflected that her love for the law started when she sat on her father’s lap as he was studying for his law school classes.
Judge Jackson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in government in 1992. After graduating, she served as a researcher for TIME magazine for a year.
Jackson next attended Harvard Law School and graduated cum laude with a juris doctorate in 1996. While at Harvard Law School, Jackson served as a supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review, an honor reserved for the very top law school students.
Jackson as a Law Clerk
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Judge Jackson held a series of judicial clerkships, serving as a law clerk at all three levels of the federal judiciary system. First, Jackson served as a law clerk for Judge Patti Daris on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Following that, Judge Jackson was a law clerk for Judge Bruce Selya of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Finally, after a year in private practice at a D.C. law firm, Jackson served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the very person she is nominated to succeed.
Related link: The Legacy of Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Law clerk positions are extremely coveted and are awarded only to top law school graduates, and they reflect Judge Jackson’s love for the law. It is interesting to note that many Supreme Court justices have served as law clerks early in their careers, including retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
Jackson’s Legal Jobs
After completing the three judicial clerkships, Judge Jackson worked in private legal practice from 2000-2003, focusing on criminal and civil appellate litigation. She next served as an assistant special counsel to the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 2003-2005. While there, Jackson was instrumental in not only reducing unwarranted sentencing disparities, but also ensuring that federal sentences were just and in proportion to the crimes committed by defendants.
Judge Jackson’s next role was as an assistant federal public defender in Washington D.C. from 2005-2007. During her confirmation hearing for the Court of Appeals, the Senate Judiciary Committee asked her why she became an assistant federal public defender and her answer is revealing.
Judge Jackson told the Committee that “I chose to become an Assistant Federal Public Defender because public service is a core value in my family, and after becoming a lawyer, I determined that being a public defender was the highest and best use of my time and talents.” Jackson also referenced her parents’ life of public service in education, as well as her brother who served in the Army National Guard.
Judge Jackson has proven to be a formidable public defender. According to The Washington Post, she “won uncommon victories against the government that shortened or erased lengthy prison sentences.”
After Jackson’s federal public defender service, she returned to private legal practice, specializing in appellate work. In 2009, Judge Jackson was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the Vice Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. She was confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate and served in that position until President Obama nominated her to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Jackson’s Judiciary Experiences
Judge Jackson served as a District Court judge from 2013-2021. During that time, she presided over 550 cases and meticulously prepared for trials and legal arguments.
She was regarded as an extremely fair judge. This position and Judge Jackson’s reputation proved to be a stepping stone for a higher court.
After eight years on the District Court, Judge Jackson was nominated and confirmed to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she currently serves. Judge Jackson was confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 53-44. During her confirmation hearing, Jackson discussed the value of her ability to bring different life experiences to the bench than other judges.
How Will Judge Jackson Influence the Supreme Court?
If confirmed, Judge Jackson will bring a fresh perspective to the Supreme Court. She will be the first African American female justice and the first justice with experience as a federal public defender.
As a public defender, Jackson represented indigent criminal defendants who had little voice in the system. Judge Jackson, however, gave them a voice through her zealous legal representation.
When testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she stated that “every person who is accused of criminal conduct by the government, regardless of wealth and despite the nature of the accusations, is entitled to the assistance of counsel.” She ensured that no matter what charges her clients faced, they received the same constitutional protections as wealthy clients who could afford to hire a team of attorneys.
When the Supreme Court justices meet in private to discuss cases, Jackson will be able to offer her unique perspective and life experiences. She will humanize the parties involved instead of looking at the case solely by the unique Supreme Court identifying number each case is assigned.
Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American male to sit on the Supreme Court, often relayed the experiences he faced as an attorney during the civil rights movement. Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, the first female justice on the Supreme Court, introduced a woman’s perspective.
This perspective was later carried on by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who relayed the struggles that women face in America. Judge Jackson will do the same by bringing her unique perspective and life experiences to Court discussions, and she will make the Supreme Court a better place by doing so.
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