For the first time since the formation of the USA, a black woman will be able to have the final say in the country’s legal matters. This Thursday (7), Ketanji Brown Jackson became a judge of the US Supreme Court.
The approval of Jackson, 51, already had the necessary support in the Senate even before the end of the vote, held from 2 pm (3 pm in BrasÃlia). Appointed by Joe Biden in February, she, the target of much criticism from Republicans, will take office in the second half, when the new legislative year begins.
Despite the criticism, the magistrate obtained three votes from the opposition. In the end, the score of 53 votes in favor and 47 against was supported by Republican senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine – all of whom are critics of former President Donald Trump.
The arrival of a black female judge on the Supreme Court has strong symbolism. The court played a key role in cementing, and then withdrawing, racist measures that became state policy.
In 1896, court judges ruled that segregating blacks and whites in public spaces was not against the Constitution. The decision meant that southern states of the country had restaurants, schools and even seats on buses that blacks could not get close to. Starting in the 1950s, the Supreme Court changed the understanding that “segregated but equal” was a functional idea and prohibited separation, which meant that blacks were no longer barred and were better able to improve their lives.
In 2022, Jackson arrives at the Supreme Court in a new moment of reassessment of postures. The main issue under debate is abortion, which was approved by the court itself in 1973. Some states have created local laws that restrict the procedure, and the Supreme Court is considering whether the measure of one of them, Mississippi, is valid.
The decision on this case, still without a confirmed date to take place, could lead to the cancellation of the 1973 release, a dream of many conservative and Republican voters. Currently, the court has six conservative-leaning judges and three more liberal ones. Jackson’s arrival will not change this account, as it fills the vacancy of liberal judge Stephen Breyer, 83, who has requested retirement.
Thus, despite being historic, his appointment may have a reduced effect on the direction of the court in the short term, due to the mathematical issue. And Jackson also said she will not participate in a vote on a case about affirmative action at universities because the lawsuit involves Harvard, the university with which she has ties.
The magistrate was born in Washington in 1970. Her parents studied in segregated schools. Afterwards, they attended universities aimed at blacks and began their careers as professors in the public school system in Miami.
When she was little, her father, Johnny Brown, decided to change careers: he studied law, became a lawyer and inspired his daughter to follow the same path. “Some of my earliest memories are of him sitting at the kitchen table reading law books. I saw him studying and he became my first professional role model,” she said in a February speech.
A student who excelled in debate and oratory tournaments, she managed to study law at Harvard, where she was sub-editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, she was an assistant to a few judges, including Breyer, who is now retiring.
In the 2000s, she alternated periods as a lawyer and public defender, in which she assisted people without money. Thus, she is also the first former public defender to reach the Supreme Court.
In 2009, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to the vice-presidency of the US Sentencing Commission, a federal body that seeks to standardize sentences. During her tenure, the department recommended reducing penalties for crimes related to drug possession.
Four years later, Obama appointed her to the District Court for the District of Columbia. In office, she reviewed lawsuits involving presidential acts, blocked an attempt by then-President Donald Trump to expand the deportation of immigrants without hearing them at hearings and blocked three executive orders from him to limit the rights of federal workers, such as union membership. .
In June 2021, Jackson was appointed by Biden to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The nomination passed the Senate at the time by 53 to 44, with three votes from Republicans.
In the analysis for the current position, the Republicans were tougher. During the Senate Sabbath, she spent more than 23 hours answering questions from senators. The process was marked by aggressive questions from the opposition and senators interrupting the magistrate’s answers to try to reaffirm her points. On the other hand, Democrats made several compliments, which brought the magistrate to tears.
Some Republicans have tried to characterize her as a left-wing activist condoning crime. Jackson has been a federal judge for more than ten years and has given less than recommended sentences for those accused of involvement with child pornography. Senator Ted Cruz even carried a poster that displayed sentences she had given alongside federal nominations — which are optional.
Jackson responded that the sentence must take into account several factors. “Judges are not in a numbers game. In each case, I have fulfilled my duty to hold defendants accountable in light of the evidence and information presented to me,” he said.
Throughout the nomination process, she sought to present herself as a person very grateful for the support she had from her family and linked to religion, but capable of separating her personal values ​​from her professional performance. “My faith is very important, but, as you know, there is no religious test in the Constitution,” she replied during the Sabbath.
She said she was clear that the judge’s role is to apply the laws, not try to change them or create public policies. “I know that my role as a judge is limited, that the Constitution gives me power only to decide cases and disputes that are properly presented,” she said shortly after being appointed. “I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building, ‘Equal justice under the law,’ are a reality, not just an ideal.”
Jackson’s choice was seen as Biden’s nod to the black electorate, who gave a good vote to Democrats in 2020. The president has been urged by some leaders to take more actions and fewer speeches.
The loss of that electorate could cost Democrats control of Congress, which is at stake in November’s midterm elections. According to the 2020 census, blacks make up 12.4% of the US population. There are 41 million people.
The new judge will be only the third black person to be appointed to the Supreme Court. The first was Thurgood Marshall, appointed in 1967. A lawyer, he was one of the main responsible for overturning the laws that protected segregation.
Among women, the first to reach the post was Sandra O’Connor, in 1981. With the arrival of Jackson, the court will have almost gender parity, with five men and four women, for the first time in 233 years of history.
WHO’S WHO IN US SUPREME COURT TODAY
conservative wing
John Roberts67
Nominated by George W. Bush in 2005. Although considered conservative, the current president of the Court sometimes acts in a moderate way
Clarence Thomas73
Nominated by George Bush in 1991
Samuel Alito71
Nominated by George W. Bush in 2006
Neil Gorsuch54
Nominated by Donald Trump in 2017
Brett Kavanaugh57
Nominated by Trump in 2018
Amy Coney Barrett50
Nominated by Trump in 2020
progressive wing
Stephen Breyer83 (retired and will give way to Ketanji Brown Jackson)
Nominated by Bill Clinton in 1994
Sonia Sotomayor, 67
Nominated by Barack Obama in 2009
Elena Kagan, 61
Nominated by Obama in 2010​
