With the Senate’s 53-47 vote on Thursday, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed as the 116th Supreme Court justice — and the first Black woman to serve on the highest court in the land. Jackson, 51, will be sworn in this summer. Several scholars and higher education leaders celebrate and reflect on this historic moment.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
“I never would have dreamed of this happening in my lifetime,” said Dr. Lolita Buckner Inniss, provost’s professor of law and dean of the University of Colorado Law School.
All 50 Democratic Senators voted for Jackson’s confirmation. Republican Senators Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined in the vote. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman of color to be vice president, presided over the vote as head of the Senate.
“I want to take a step back and say what an incredible American success story this is,” said Dr. Gregory Vincent, professor of educational policy studies and evaluation at the University of Kentucky as well as the incoming president of Talladega College. “To see Jackson make history and do so with courage, commitment, and faith — every person should be inspired by her story.”
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee reached an 11-11 tie with Democrats voting for and Republicans voting against advancing Jackson’s nomination to a vote in the full Senate. Democrats, expecting the tie, swiftly took a procedural step to release the nomination to a full Senate vote.
“It’s a very, very long time coming, and there could not be a more qualified individual to be confirmed to the court,” said Renee Knake Jefferson, professor of law and the Joanne and Larry Doherty chair in legal ethics at the University of Houston Law Center. “This is not about partisanship or politics. This is a moment for us as a country to stop and reflect on the progress we’ve made in the promise of equality for everyone. This is surely a marker of that — and she will be a justice to help us continue in that long, ever-forward process.”
Jackson served as a federal trial court judge for eight years and was confirmed last June for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Prior to being a judge, she had worked as a public defender. Jackson will be the first Supreme Court justice to have represented criminal defendants since Thurgood Marshall.
