Pres. Joe Biden nominated D.C. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Brown Jackson was the frontrunner on Biden’s list.
Biden, 79, made the announcement today, Feb. 25.
The seat will be vacated by Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced his retirement in January.
Justice Breyer, 83, was the oldest Justice on the high court. He plans to step down at the end of his term this summer.
Breyer’s retirement pleases Democrats who believe the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stayed too long and deprived the Democrats of appointing another liberal to the highest court.
Judge Brown Jackson was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by former President Barack Obama in 2013.
She is married to Dr. Patrick Graves Jackson, the chief general surgeon at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. They share 2 children.
Brown Jackson is related, by marriage, to former House speaker Paul Ryan. Her brother-in-law is married to Paul Ryan’s sister-in-law.
Jackson will become the sixth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court if she is confirmed by the Senate.
Biden made a vow to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court during the 2020 primary debate in South Carolina.
Biden made his decision after narrowing his choices down to three women: Jackson Brown, 51, Michelle Childs, 55, and Leondra Kruger, 45.
Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, 57, who is mixed race, didn’t make his list.
She is currently hiding out in an underground nuclear shelter in Jackson Hole, WY, amid the Russia, Ukraine conflict in Europe.
