Persuading the congressional committee was a very daunting task

Ketanji Jackson, the first black woman in the US Supreme Court

  • Katangi Jackson excelled in her studies and enrolled at Harvard University.

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  • The judge was calm despite the provocations of some members of Congress.

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  • The Supreme Court has been dominated by whites since its inception more than two centuries ago.

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  • The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in America.

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The assertion of a judge in the US Supreme Court is always a matter of "who has power."

But when the candidate is the first brunette to hold a position in this judiciary, the question takes on new meaning.

With Katangi Brown-Jackson this seat, it would also become a referendum on what kind of people should be influential, and how the state helps or hinders their progress.

To watch her confirmation hearings, it was necessary to note how hard some are willing to awkwardly engage, and how eager they are to engage in dramatization and disinformation, just to slow change.

In the end, after much evasiveness by some members, the Senate on Thursday approved Justice Jackson's nomination, making her the first brunette woman to hear cases of huge significance and subtlety before the highest US court in the 232-year history of the institution. .

Former White House counsel Peter Walson was the one who proposed to President Ronald Reagan, in 1986, two possible candidates for positions on the Supreme Court;

They are Judges Robert Burke and Antonin Scalia.

Then the president asked if Scalia was an Italian surname;

Walson answered in the affirmative.

Reagan then immediately replied that Scalia would be his candidate.

This moment was presented as evidence of the hypocrisy of those who described the Jackson nomination process as "offensive" or somewhat unique.

After all, Reagan had made earlier comments about his desire to nominate an American-Italian to the Supreme Court, in recognition of the important role that people of Italian descent play in the country.

Walson said it was just a "sudden decision", not a calculated promise.

However, it is worth noting that the idea that Reagan wanted a judge, of Italian heritage, was not criticized at the time.

And it wasn't shocking that Scalia would have the power;

Nor was there widespread criticism for taking the seat that someone else deserved, and the criticism he faced focused on his actual record.

And the evidence emerged early on that this time wouldn't be the case;

Immediately, Jackson was exposed to the idea that her candidacy was somewhat unfair.

racist thoughts

In the weeks after she was named an official candidate, conservative opponents have come up with a ready-made set of racist ideas about intelligence and ability, though it is often difficult to question the credentials of a Harvard graduate and former Supreme Court employee.

One TV host publicly called for the judge's law school admissions test scores, claiming that was the only way to know Jackson's suitability for court, as if there was a clear underlying cause for doubt.

Central to the arguments of many who opposed President Joe Biden's decision to select a candidate from a pool of well-qualified black women is the idea that this country's system for distributing opportunity - and ultimately power - is already open enough, and fair enough.

But the data says there are still huge gaps, 50.8% of women in the US, of whom about 40% are black, Latino and Asian, but the Senate is not homogeneous, and has never been anything like that, and only 24 of the current senators are women. ;

And 11 members of color, the majority of whom are men.

Meanwhile, the hearings themselves increased the focus on who should wield power in modern America, and what policymakers actually wanted.

The judge is only 51, and Jackson is likely to spend decades at the heart of the struggle between the ultra-conservative tendencies of Republican-appointed judges and America's diverse preferences;

Especially the younger generations, who constitute the most racially and culturally diverse generation in American history.

hard session

And the judge remembers, how she was walking across the campus, when she was a student at Harvard University, as if she did not belong to the place, when she met a brunette she did not know, "she looked at me and I think she knew how I was feeling when she bent down and said: Persevere," and continued Jackson: "I would tell them (young Americans) to persevere."

This sharing of memories came amid a public examination of the judge's nomination, in a grueling four-day hearing.

As a black woman whose parents attended racially segregated schools, de jure, and "absolutely certain" that her ancestors were slaves, Jackson's assertion would change the course of history.

Since the court's founding, 108 of the 115 judges have been white.

Only five women sat on the bench, and only two were of African descent, Thurgood Marshall and current judge Clarence Thomas.

And appointments to the Supreme Court, long a landmark for any administration, have become increasingly fraught and polarized.

But some Supreme Court watchers have argued that Jackson's assertion, last year, by a bipartisan Senate vote on her membership in the Federal Court of Appeals, was in her favour.

Jackson's appointment would have resonance in a country that faces deep divisions over race and criminal justice.

She will become the first female Supreme Court justice with experience as a public defender, a lawyer representing criminal defendants who, ordinarily, cannot afford to represent them.

one chance

This appears to be President Joe Biden's first - and perhaps only - chance to make his mark on the court and make good on his promise to nominate a black woman.

Former President Donald Trump made three appointments to the Supreme Court, cementing the 6-3 split between conservative and liberal justices.

Jackson's assertion would not upset the court's ideological make-up, while issues such as abortion, voting rights and so-called "positive discrimination" are studied;

But it will ensure that the liberal wing does not lose any more ground.

promising capabilities

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who worked with Jackson in the early 2000s, believes she "would be highly qualified to succeed Judge Breyer," continuing, "Kitangi Jackson has firm opinions, but I remember she was very kind."

Born in Washington and raised in Miami, Florida, Jackson showed promise early on, joining her school's "student government" and winning national awards with her team, giving speeches and debating.

Richard Rosenthal, a former classmate and appellate attorney, recalled the day she was announced for Harvard, their underfunded public high school.

During the sessions, he said, "The whole class reacted immediately, everyone applauded, and colleagues rushed to Katangi to congratulate her."

"No one was jealous, no one was upset, no one was ever surprised," Rosenthal continued.

After Harvard Law School, Jackson began a career that ranged from private practice to the US Sentencing Committee.

She worked as a clerk for three judges, including Breyer, and then rose steadily through the ranks, becoming a judge about 10 years ago, first on the district court, and then on the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals, which is often seen as the second most important court in America.

bright background

Bipartisan members of the Congressional confirmation committee have praised Jackson's background.

But this week, the opposition has targeted its legal record, focusing on both individual sentences, and its work as a public defender associated with Guantanamo Bay, the US military base in Cuba that became home to a prison after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Jackson told the panel that public defenders do not pick clients, And they “(defend) the constitutional value of representation.”

Confirmation hearings are known as hostile exchanges and constant interference.

She was interrupted by Senator Ted Cruz 15 times during his 20-minute tenure.

In addition to being asked if she agrees with the idea that “children are racist”;

But it remained constant the whole time.

"I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the facade of the Supreme Court building, 'Equal justice before the law, is a fact, not an ideal,'" Jackson told the Congressional Committee.

Her candidacy was a "historic opportunity to inspire future generations and ensure freedom and justice for all."

• 108 of the 115 judges are white men, since the establishment of the Supreme Court.

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