Biden to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as first Black woman on Supreme Court

Biden to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as first Black woman on Supreme CourtIn doing so, Biden is keeping a pledge he made while campaigning for president.ByDevin DwyerFebruary 25, 2022, 9:42 AM• 10 min read2:03Who is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?President Joe Biden is set to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jacks…Tom Williams/AFP via Getty Images, FILEPresident Joe Biden will nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, elevating an African American woman for the first time to a seat on the high court bench, ABC News learned and the White House later announced.A formal ceremony was set for 2 p.m. Friday at which both Biden and Jackson would speak, the White House said.Judge Jackson, 51, currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to which she was named by Biden and confirmed by the Senate last year with Republican support. The president called Jackson late Thursday to inform her of the decision, a source familiar with the conversation said.Her historic nomination fulfills a promise Biden made during the 2020 presidential campaign ahead of the South Carolina primary when he relied heavily on support from the state’s Black voters.PHOTO: Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated to be a US Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 28, 2021.Tom Williams/AFP via Getty Images, FILETom Williams/AFP via Getty Images, FILEKetanji Brown Jackson, nominated to be a US Circuit Judge for th…MORE: Who is potential Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson? And the inside story behind her nameIt’s also the first opportunity for Biden, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to help shape a Court that has grown sharply more conservative in recent years, even if his appointment will not alter the current ideological balance.MORE: Poll finds sharp partisan divisions on the impact of a Black woman justiceJackson, a former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her.All but four justices appointed in the last 50 years have come from a federal appeals court, including three current justices – Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts and Clarence Thomas – from the D.C. Circuit.Born in D.C. but raised in Miami, Jackson comes from an elite legal pedigree as a graduate of Harvard Law School but also has experience representing everyday Americans in the legal system as a federal public defender.”Public service is a core value in my family,” Judge Jackson testified last year.She would be the first federal public defender to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and the first justice since Thurgood Marshall to have criminal defense experience.PHOTO: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson poses for a portrait in her office in Washington, Feb. 18, 2022.Jacquelyn Martin/APJacquelyn Martin/APJudge Ketanji Brown Jackson poses for a portrait in her office in…Jackson has been vetted and confirmed by the Senate three times – twice for appointments to the federal bench, a third time for a seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Not since Justice Clarence Thomas was nominated in 1991 has a Supreme Court candidate been scrutinized by the Senate as many times.”I think she’s qualified for the job. She has a different philosophy than I do, but it’s been that way the whole time,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said of Jackson last year. He was one of three GOP Senators, including Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who voted to confirm Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals.President Biden has long admired, respected and helped elevate Jackson, sources say. It was the Obama-Biden administration that first appointed her to the federal bench in 2013. Last year, Biden met one-on-one with Jackson at the White House before nominating her to the D.C. Circuit. The two met again in recent days, sources said.The president is impressed by her “experience in roles at all levels of the justice system, her character and her legal brilliance,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said this month.Jackson has won praise from grassroots progressive, civil rights and legal groups, particularly for her work as vice chair of the bipartisan U.S. Sentencing Commission between 2010 and 2014, when she played a key role in major criminal justice reforms.Jackson joined a unanimous vote to reduce federal sentencing guidelines for some nonviolent drug offenders and make the changes retroactive – moves backed by members of both parties.”In my view, that of a civil rights lawyer and advocate who is committed to bringing justice, respect, and fairness to this nation, and particularly to my community, that woman is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump told ABC News.PHOTO: Federal Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks from the

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