Note: Since this article was filed, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was formally confirmed as the next Supreme Court Justice.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a United States District Judge, has been nominated by President Joe Biden as a Supreme Court Associate Justice to replace retiring justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court .

Her nomination by Joe Biden is a promise that he made during his election campaign process where he promised to the American people that he would nominate a woman of color for the vacant seat as an effort to break new ground within the Supreme Court’s and the United States’s history.

Judge Jackson currently serves on the US Court of Appeals DC Circuit and has previously clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer whom she is replacing on the Supreme Court. Ms. Bailey, AP Government teachers at RMHS put her nomination in perspective.  “Her nomination for the Court is absolutely historic because not only will she be just the sixth female judge on the supreme Court in American history she will also be the first black woman nominated to the Court and that’s really historic because that’s a segment of the population that’s never seen itself represented on the Court and as we all know a lot of the issues that come before the Supreme Court are deeply personal matters, things like civil rights access, abortion.”  She went on to say, “Not only does she have an incredible amount of experience as a well regarded and well respected judge, she also has experience as a public defender which means she’d be one to represent indigent Americans, those who can’t afford a lawyer.” 

For anyone not aware, being a jJustice on the Supreme Court is a position for life and one can only retire if they have reached the age of 65 or have served a total of 15 years consecutive.  As Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has her confirmation hearings during the month of March, she is expected to answer scorching questions thrown at her by the Senate during the process in which she has to amalgamate all of her knowledge of the law to prove that she is a highly qualified judge for the position.

As the first black woman to hopefully ever serve on this Court, she is forging unprecedented history for all black women in this country as a ray of light finally has infiltrated through the barred door.