Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court justice on Thursday, making history as the first black woman on the nation’s most senior judiciary, at a time when the court’s conservative majority has taken over. important decisions.
Jackson, 51, joins the court’s Liberal bloc with a 6-to-3 Conservative majority. His oath as Joe Biden’s replacement to retired Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer comes six days after magistrates reversed the Roe v. . Wade in 1973, which made abortion legal nationwide. Breyer officially retired on Thursday.
“With a full heart, I accept the solemn responsibility to uphold and uphold the Constitution of the United States and to administer justice without fear or indulgence,” Jackson said in a statement.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found that most Americans (57%) have a negative view of the court after the abortion decision, a significant change from earlier in the month, when a narrow majority had a positive view.
Jackson is the 116th justice, the sixth woman and the third black person to serve on the Supreme Court since its founding in 1789.
“I’m happy for America,” Breyer said in a statement. “Ketanji will interpret the law fairly and wisely, helping the law work better for the American people it serves.”
Biden appointed Jackson last year to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after she spent eight years as a federal district judge. At the time of the ceremony, Biden was flying to the US back from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting in Madrid.
Like the three conservative judges appointed by the Democratic president’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump, Jackson is young enough to serve decades in a lifetime job.
“I am delighted to welcome Judge Jackson to the court and to our common calling,” Chief Justice John Roberts said at the ceremony.
The Senate confirmed Jackson in a 53-47 vote on April 7, with three Republicans joining the Democrats in support of her. Jackson’s appointment does not change the court’s ideological balance.
“It has been 232 years and 115 prior nominations for a black woman to be selected to serve on the United States Supreme Court,” Jackson said at an April 8 event celebrating her confirmation. “But we did.”
Biden aimed to bring more women and minorities and a wider range of backgrounds into the federal judiciary. Jackson’s appointment fulfilled a promise Biden made during the 2020 presidential campaign, when he stated that he would nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. With the addition of Jackson, the Supreme Court has four women simultaneously for the first time.
Breyer announced his plans to retire in January, having served since being nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1994. Jackson worked with Breyer early in his legal career.
The court made its last two rulings in the current term on Thursday, including one pushed by conservative judges that limits the government’s authority to issue sweeping regulations to reduce carbon emissions from power plants.
Jackson joins the liberal bloc that has found itself outmatched in several major decisions this semester, not only on the right to abortion, but also on the right to guns, the expansion of religious freedoms, among other issues.
Jackson will participate in case discussions for the first time when the court’s next semester opens in October. A major case due to be discussed in the near future gives conservative judges the opportunity to end affirmative action policies used by colleges and universities in their admissions processes to increase approval for black and Hispanic students to achieve diversity on campuses.
Source: CNN Brasil
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