By Leshi Adebayo
History has been made in the United States of America legislature after the country’s Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the US Supreme Court.
This nomination makes her the first Black woman in the US’ history to serve as a Supreme Court Justice and the the 3rd Black-American to service in the same capacity.
Jackson’s historic nomination was confirmed by the US Senate in 53-47 vote on Thursday afternoon.
Speaking on the Judge Jackson’s nomination, Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer said, “This is a wonderful day, a joyous day and an inspiring day for the Senate with the Supreme Court and for the United States of America. Judge Jackson is in every sense and by all measures a brilliant jurist.”
Although, she faced opposition from the Republican party who sought to paint her as a radically left wing judge in her judicial opinions but the Democrats were solidly behind her.
According to Aljazeera, three GOP senators, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Utah’s Mitt Romney, all voted in her favour on Thursday, which help to effectively seal her nomination in the evenly-divided chamber.
The 51-year old US Appeals Court Judge will be joining a court that is dominated 6-3 by conservatives. She replaces Judge Stephen Breyer who announced his retirement in January 2022.
Before her nomination to the US Supreme Court, Jackson attended the Harvard University. She served as a public defender and later, went on to work at a private law firm.
Jackson was also appointed as a member of the US Sentencing Commission in addition to her nine years on the federal bench.
