Ketanji Brown Jackson Wins Confirmation to Supreme Court

Ketanji Brown Jackson won confirmation to the Supreme Court with a 53-47 Senate vote.

Summary

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson won confirmation as the first black woman Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in a narrow, but bipartisan vote.

• Jackson was confirmed 53-47, with three Republican senators – Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) joining all 50 Democrats.
• Jackson’s confirmation comes after a relatively quick six-week confirmation process where Jackson faced criticism from some Republican senators for her work as a federal public defender and her sentencing record as a trial judge.
• Jackson’s appointment fulfills a Biden campaign promise, and the 51-year-old will likely serve on the court for decades to come.
• Vice President Kamala Harris, the first black, Indian, and female vice president, was visibly emotional while presiding over the confirmation of the first black woman Supreme Court Justice.
• Retiring Justice Stephen Breyer will serve on the court until the end of the current term in June, and Justice-designate Jackson will take office at that time.

• The New York Times interviewed black female Harvard students to see what Jackson’s nomination means to them. 
• The Washington Post wrote about “how Ketanji Brown Jackson found a path between confrontation and compromise.” 
• CNN provided more background on Dan Scavino, who helped run Trump’s Twitter account and his position as one of Trump’s oldest and closest advisers.

• Fox News’ coverage took readers into the Senate chamber for the historic vote.
• National Review mocked remarks from Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) after Jackson’ confirmation a “bad joke” and the definition of “the partisan fray.”
• In honor of Judge Jackson’s confirmation, the Washington Free Beacon published a special (parody) poem, “What is a Woman?”

Author’s Take

As expected, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson won confirmation to be the Supreme Court’s first black woman justice and first to have served as a federal public defender. Republican questioning over her sentencing record and attempts to smear her as lenient on pedophilia – criticized even by conservative legal experts – came to naught. Judge Jackson will likely serve as the left flank of the Supreme Court for years to come, and we can expect mostly dissents from Justice Jackson so long as the Court’s 6-3 conservative majority remains in place.

The Supreme Court will now have four women for the first time in its history. The courts’ 6-3 ideological breakdown will be maintained, and so will its less-prominent 4-4-1 configuration. 4-4-1? I’m referring to 4 Harvard-educated justices, 4 Yale-educated judges, and a lone judge from Notre Dame (Amy Coney Barrett).  Judge Jackson will certainly bring some diversity to the court. However, in terms of education and the elite-school capture of the court, the status quo will prevail.

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© Dominic Moore, 2022