History has been made in the United States as the nation’s Senate has confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court.
Jackson’s appointment denotes that white men will not be the majority on the nation’s high court for the first time in 233 years.
In a swift reaction to the landmark development, President Joe Biden called it a “historic moment for our nation.”
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said “This milestone should have happened generations ago… but we are always trotting on a path towards a more perfect union. Nevertheless, America today is taking a giant step towards making our union more perfect”.
“People sometimes talk about standing on the shoulders of giants; well, Judge Jackson will go down in history as an American giant upon whose shoulders others will stand tall. And our democracy will be better off for it.”According to local reports, the 51-year-old Jackson picked up support from three Senate Republicans during a grueling and at times brutal confirmation process, delivering Biden a bipartisan, 53-47 approval for his first Supreme Court nominee.
The iconic development is a huge moment for the president, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1980s and 90s, meaning he has the unprecedented distinction of both naming and overseeing the appointment of a Supreme Court justice.
More importantly, the development has enabled Biden to show the Black voters who rescued his floundering 2020 primary campaign that he can deliver for them following the recent defeat of voting rights legislation.
Remarkably, at 42 days, the confirmation will be among the shortest in history, although longer than it took to seat Donald Trump’s last court pick during his presidency, Amy Coney Barrett.
It was stated that once Jackson takes her seat, four of the justices on the nine-member court will be women, making it the most diverse bench in history.
Reports clarified that of the five men on the bench, four are white, and Clarence Thomas is African American.
It is imperative to note that Jackson, who watched the vote at the White House with Biden, is the only nominee of a Democratic president to be confirmed since Elena Kagan in 2010.
Jackson replaces the retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, for whom she clerked at the turn of the century.
However, while her confirmation is a milestone, it won’t change the 6-3 conservative majority on the court, reports said.
