The oath of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first African-American woman in this court, “represents a profound step for all young black women”
Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in on Thursday as a new member of the United States Supreme Court. She is the first African-American woman to do so. Her appointment also breaks for the first time in 233 years the majority held by white men on the court. In any case, her arrival does not alter the ideological composition of the Supreme Court, a legacy of the Trump Administration: there will continue to be 6 conservative court magistrates against 3 progressive ones, including Jackson herself.
The new 51-year-old magistrate has replaced her superior, fellow liberal judge Stephen Breyer, who has retired at 83. Jackson will be the sixth woman and the third black person to hold the position after the Senate validated her appointment in April, in a vote that resulted in 53 supports – all 50 Democrats and three Republicans – against 47 votes against. . It is the first appointment made by Joe Biden since he became president in January 2021.
“It has taken 232 years and 115 previous appointments, but we have achieved it,” said Jackson after his confirmation. “Our children tell me that right now they are clearer than ever that anything is possible,” he added, in comments collected by ABC News.
The “historic swearing-in” of the new judge “represents a profound step forward for our nation, for all young black women who now see themselves reflected in our highest court, and for all of us as Americans,” the president said. Biden spared no praise for the new magistrate. “The Supreme Court has just gained a colleague with a world-class intellect, the dignified temperament the American people expect of a justice, and the strongest credentials imaginable,” she added, in a statement released Thursday.
Jackson was born in Washington DC and grew up in Miami. He graduated from Harvard University, the alma mater of Judge Breyer, whom he now succeeds. She began working for him on the Supreme Court in the 1999-2000 academic year.
strong polarization
Jackson arrives at the highest court in the country at a time of extreme polarization and in the midst of great controversy over some of the latest decisions made by the magistrates. For example, the ruling that he stopped considering abortion as a right guaranteed by the Constitution, which opens the door for each State to regulate it differently, and even prohibit it; the expansion of the right of civilians to bear arms; or the limitation to the Government to curb greenhouse gases.
From this perspective, the head of the Democratic caucus in the (Lower) House of Representatives of Congress, celebrated that “in the midst of this court’s cruel attack on the health, freedom and security of Americans, she will be a very powerful force.” necessary for the equality of all before justice.
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