Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been nominated by President Biden to become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman to serve on the court and also be the second-youngest justice on the current court.
She is Currently serving in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington Circuit. Prior to this, Jackson served in the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets guidelines for federal judges to follow in imposing punishments in criminal cases. She has also helped reduce the recommended penalties for nonviolent drug offenders.
Judge Jackson was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Miami, Florida. Her parents attended segregated primary schools, then attended historically black colleges and universities. Both started their careers as public school teachers and became leaders and administrators in the Miami-Dade Public School System. When Judge Jackson was in preschool, her father attended law school. In a 2017 lecture, Judge Jackson traced her love of the law back to sitting next to her father in their apartment as he tackled his law school homework—reading cases and preparing for Socratic questioning—while she undertook her preschool homework—coloring books.
Judge Jackson is one of the nation’s brightest legal minds and has an unusual breadth of experience in the legal system which gives her the perspective to be an exceptional Justice.
