MAKING HISTORY: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has made history as the first Black woman confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate voted 53-47 to confirm her in their final confirmation vote.
WASHINGTON -- The Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the court.
During the four days of Senate hearings last month, Jackson spoke of her parents' struggles through racial segregation and said her"path was clearer" than theirs as a Black American after the enactment of civil rights laws. She attended Harvard University, served as a public defender, worked at a private law firm and was appointed as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Her eventual elevation to the court will be a respite for Democrats who fought three bruising battles over former President Donald Trump's nominees and watched Republicans cement a conservative majority in the final days of Trump's term with the confirmation of Coney Barrett. While Jackson won't change the balance, she will secure a legacy on the court for Biden and fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to nominate the first Black female justice.
Statements from Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah all said the same thing - they might not always agree with Jackson, but they found her to be enormously well qualified for the job. Collins and Murkowski both decried increasingly partisan confirmation fights, which only worsened during the battles over Trump's three picks.
Jackson's first term will be marked by cases involving race, both in college admissions and voting rights. She has pledged to sit out the court's consideration of Harvard's admissions program since she is a member of its board of overseers. But the court could split off a second case involving a challenge to the University of North Carolina's admissions process, which might allow her to weigh in on the issue.
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