Ketanji Brown Jackson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ketanji Brown Jackson
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Official portrait, 2022
|
|
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Assumed office June 30, 2022 |
|
| Nominated by | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Stephen Breyer |
| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | |
| In office June 17, 2021 – June 29, 2022 |
|
| Nominated by | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Merrick Garland |
| Succeeded by | Florence Y. Pan |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
| In office March 26, 2013 – June 17, 2021 |
|
| Nominated by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Henry H. Kennedy Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Florence Y. Pan |
| Vice Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission | |
| In office February 12, 2010 – December 2014 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Rubén Castillo |
| Succeeded by | L. Felipe Restrepo |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Ketanji Onyika Brown
September 14, 1970 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Spouse |
Patrick Jackson
(m. 1996) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Calvin Ross (uncle) |
| Education | Harvard University (BA, JD) |
| Signature |  |
Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson (born September 14, 1970) is an American lawyer and judge. She is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President Joe Biden chose her for the Supreme Court in 2022. The U.S. Senate confirmed her, and she took office that same year. She is the first Black woman and the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.
Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Miami, Florida. She studied at Harvard University for both her college and law degrees. While there, she was an editor for the Harvard Law Review. She also worked for Justice Stephen Breyer, and later took his place on the Supreme Court. Before joining the Supreme Court, Jackson was a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (2013–2021). She also served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2021–2022).
Contents
Early Life and Education
Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., on September 14, 1970. Her parents both went to colleges mainly for Black students. Her father, Johnny Brown, became a chief attorney for the Miami-Dade County School Board. Her mother, Ellery, was a school principal. One of her uncles, Calvin Ross, was the police chief in Miami.
Jackson grew up in Miami and went to Miami Palmetto Senior High School. She was a top debater and won a national speaking contest in her senior year. She said that debating helped her a lot for her future in law and life. In 1988, she graduated as senior class president. In her yearbook, she said she wanted to "go into law and eventually have a judicial appointment."
After high school, Jackson went to Harvard University to study government. She took drama classes and did improv comedy. She was part of the Black Students Association. She helped lead protests against a student who showed a Confederate flag. She also protested because there were not enough full-time professors in Afro-American Studies. She graduated from Harvard in 1992 with high honors.
From 1992 to 1993, Jackson worked as a reporter for Time magazine. Then she went to Harvard Law School. She was an editor for the Harvard Law Review. She graduated in 1996 with honors.
Early Career as a Lawyer
After law school, Jackson worked for different judges as a law clerk. She worked for Judge Patti B. Saris and Judge Bruce M. Selya. She also worked for Justice Stephen Breyer from 1999 to 2000.
Jackson then worked at private law firms. From 2003 to 2005, she helped the United States Sentencing Commission. This group creates rules for how judges decide sentences in federal cases. From 2005 to 2007, Jackson was an assistant federal public defender in Washington, D.C. This means she represented people who could not afford a lawyer. She won many cases for her clients, sometimes getting their long prison terms shortened or removed.
U.S. Sentencing Commission (2010–2014)
In 2009, President Obama nominated Jackson to be the vice chair of the United States Sentencing Commission. The Senate confirmed her nomination in 2010. She served on the commission until 2014.
District Court Judge (2013–2021)
.jpg)
In 2012, President Obama nominated Jackson to be a federal judge for the District of Columbia. A Republican politician, Paul Ryan, who is related to Jackson by marriage, spoke in favor of her at her hearing. He praised her intelligence and honesty. The Senate confirmed her, and she became a judge in March 2013. She served as a district judge until June 2021.
As a district judge, Jackson made several decisions that went against the Trump administration. In one important case, she ordered a former White House lawyer to follow a subpoena from Congress. She wrote that "presidents are not kings." She also ruled on cases about how government agencies make decisions.
Some of her decisions were later changed by a higher court. However, an organization called Alliance for Justice said that she had written nearly 600 opinions and was reversed less than twelve times. This shows she had a very strong record.
U.S. Court of Appeals (2021–2022)
On March 30, 2021, President Biden announced he would nominate Jackson to be a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This court is considered one of the most important federal courts. Biden nominated her to fill the seat left by Judge Merrick Garland.
During her confirmation hearing, senators asked her about her past rulings. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve her nomination. On June 14, 2021, the full Senate confirmed her by a vote of 53–44. Three Republican senators joined all Democrats in voting for her. She became a circuit judge on June 17, 2021. She served on this court until June 29, 2022.
In her first written opinion for the appeals court, Jackson and other judges struck down a rule that had limited the power of federal worker unions.
Nomination to the Supreme Court
In 2016, officials in the Obama administration considered Jackson for a spot on the Supreme Court of the United States. She was one of five people interviewed for the position.
In early 2022, news reports said that President Biden might choose Jackson for the Supreme Court. Biden had promised during his 2020 election campaign to appoint a Black woman to the court if a spot opened up. Her appointment to the D.C. Circuit Court was seen as a step towards a possible Supreme Court nomination.
Many civil rights groups and liberal organizations supported Jackson's possible nomination. Some Republican leaders and senators did not support it. The Washington Post noted that her experience as a public defender made her popular with many Democrats. While her supporters saw this experience as a strength, some Republicans tried to make it seem like a weakness during her hearings.
On February 25, 2022, President Biden announced that Jackson was his choice for the Supreme Court. Her confirmation hearing began on March 21. After the Judiciary Committee had a tie vote, the full Senate voted to move her nomination forward. On April 7, she was confirmed by a vote of 53–47. Republican Senators Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins voted with all Democrats to confirm her. She officially became an associate justice on June 30, 2022, when Justice Breyer retired.
U.S. Supreme Court (2022–Present)
On June 30, 2022, Justice Breyer officially retired. At noon that day, Jackson was sworn in. She became the first Black woman and the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court. On September 28, 2022, Jackson was assigned to oversee the First Circuit.
On July 21, Jackson voted in her first Supreme Court case. She joined a dissenting opinion in a case about immigration rules. On October 3, she took part in her first oral argument as a justice. This was for the case Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. On November 7, she wrote her first opinion. It was a two-page dissent in a death row case.
Experts noticed that Jackson was very active during oral arguments in her first term. She spoke more words on average than the other justices. On February 28, 2023, Jackson wrote her first majority opinion for a unanimous court. This was in the case Delaware v. Pennsylvania, which was about how unclaimed money from MoneyGrams is divided among states.
Important Cases and Opinions
On June 1, 2023, Jackson wrote the only dissenting opinion in Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters. This case was about whether employers could sue labor unions for property damage during a strike. She argued that the court should have given more respect to the National Labor Relations Board. She said that workers are not "indentured servants" and have the right to strike, even if it causes economic harm.
On June 13, 2024, Jackson wrote an opinion in Starbucks Corporation v. McKinney. She agreed that the case should be sent back to lower courts. However, she disagreed with the majority because she felt they did not respect the authority of the National Labor Relations Board enough. She wrote that she did not want to see judges take too much power when Congress intended for expert agencies to make these decisions.
Jackson also disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. This ruling limited the use of race in college admissions. In her dissent, Jackson said that the U.S. has "never been colorblind." She argued that affirmative action helps correct past wrongs. She felt the majority's decision would stop progress towards true equality.
How She Views the Law
Jackson has said she does not have one specific way of thinking about the law. Instead, she has a "judicial methodology." She believes the Constitution's meaning is "fixed." She has also spoken against the idea of a "living Constitution," which suggests the Constitution's meaning can change over time.
Personal Life
In 1996, Jackson married Patrick Graves Jackson, a surgeon. They met at Harvard College. Patrick Jackson is related to a famous Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.. The couple has two daughters. Through her marriage, Ketanji Jackson is also related to former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
In December 2024, Jackson made a special appearance in the Broadway show & Juliet. She said it was a "lifelong dream" to perform on Broadway. She had taken acting classes in college, which she said helped her prepare for the role.
Groups and Activities
Jackson is a member of several important legal groups. She has also served on the boards of the Harvard Board of Overseers and the Georgetown Day School.
She has been a judge in many mock trials, including one about whether Aaron Burr was guilty of murdering Alexander Hamilton. She also gives lectures and speaks at events about law and justice. In 2022, she received the Golden Plate Award, presented by Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Anthony Kennedy.
See also
In Spanish: Ketanji Brown Jackson para niños
- Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of African American federal judges
- List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
Images for kids
-
Ketanji Brown Jackson's signature
