Biden nominated federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill the seat soon to be vacated by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
QUICK FACTS:
- Joe Biden nominated federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Friday, according to The Washington Examiner.
- Jackson will replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer who is retiring from his position at the end of this term.
- Jackson is thought to be an unusual choice because of her lack of experience as either a prosecutor or corporate attorney.
- The nominee did, however, serve as a public defender representing indigent criminal defendants following her graduation from Harvard Law School.
- Jackson, 51, will be the first black woman on the nation’s high court, the 3rd black person, and the 6th woman to serve on the nation’s high court.
BIDEN’S COMMENTS ON JACKSON’S NOMINATION:
- “I’m proud to announce that I am nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court,” Biden tweeted on Friday. “Currently serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, she is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and will be an exceptional Justice.”
- Brookings Institution governance studies expert Russell Wheeler told The Examiner that the selection is unique because she will be the second justice on the court that has imposed criminal sentences.
- “Now with the Supreme Court selection, you see what I suspect may be an effort on the part of the White House to placate the progressives in the judiciary as [Biden] had little interest in their demands of Supreme Court revision, whether it be a change in the number of justices or term limits,” Wheeler said.
BACKGROUND:
- Justice Stephen Breyer is thought to be taking his intentionally timed departure from the nation’s high court to allow a Democratic-controlled Senate to vote on his replacement, Newsweek points out.
- The nomination of a politically left-leaning justice will not change the court’s political makeup, which is currently weighted with a conservative majority.
