WASHINGTON – Ketanji Brown Jackson took the judicial oath just after noon on Thursday and became the first black woman to serve in the Supreme Court.
Justice Jackson, 51, was confirmed in April when the Senate voted 53 to 47 over her nomination. She will replace Judge Stephen Breyer, 83, who will retire at the conclusion of the court’s current term.
Judge Jackson took both a constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, and a judicial oath, administered by Judge Breyer. The short swearing-in ceremony took place in the Western Conference Room at the Supreme Court, ahead of a small gathering of Judge Jackson’s family. Her husband, Patrick G. Jackson, held the Bible.
“I am pleased to welcome Judge Jackson to court and to our common calling,” Judge Roberts said, shaking her hand. Judge Roberts said there would be a formal inquiry in the fall, but the oath would “enable her to undertake her duties, and she was eager to accomplish it without any further delay.”
Judge Jackson made no statement.
Her rise to court will not change his ideological balance – the newly expanded Conservative majority will retain his 6-to-3 majority.
This comes at a time of deep polarization over the court, especially in the aftermath of his ruling that Roe v. Wade, who is ending the constitutional right to abortion, and at a time when the court has shown in recent rulings that it is deeply skeptical about the power of administrative agencies to address major issues facing the country.
Yet the Biden administration and Judge Jackson stressed the historical importance of her elevation to the country’s Supreme Court.
“It took 232 years and 115 previous appointments for a black woman to be elected to serve in the United States Supreme Court,” Judge Jackson said at a White House celebration in April after her confirmation. “But we made it. We made it. All of us. “
Justice Jackson was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Miami. She graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Judge Breyer’s alma mater, and served for him during the 1999-2000 Supreme Court term.
During his 2020 campaign, President Biden promised that if elected, he would appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court.