Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote a letter to President Obama requesting that her federal judge-mom fill a vacancy at the Supreme Court.
Leila Jackson wrote, “Dear Mr. president.” She is determined, honest, and doesn’t break any promises to anyone even when there are other things she would rather do. She is a great example of commitment, loyalty and self-control. She would be a great Supreme Court justice.
Jackson was not nominated to fill the vacancy her daughter was writing on, which was created by the 2016 passing of Justice Antonin Scalia. Merrick Garland is now President Joe Biden’s attorney general.
Jackson may have another chance.
She is considered one of the top prospects to replace retiring justice Stephen Breyer, as Biden seeks fulfillment of a campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to serve on the court.
Jackson spoke about the letter her daughter wrote in a 2017 speech. Jackson said that the letter was written after her daughter discovered there was an opening in the high court and decided her mom should apply.
She explained to her daughter that “Getting to the Supreme Court is not really the type of job you apply for.”
Still, a little bragging doesn’t hurt.
Jackson’s background is similar to that of justices on the court. This attracted Obama’s interest as a potential nominee in 2016. She attended Harvard law school and college. A year earlier in her career, she was also a Breyer law clerk.
Her experience as a public defense attorney could make her stand out, especially since Biden has praised civil rights work and criminal defense in the past of other nominees for federal judgesships.
Jackson sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. This is a position Biden promoted her to last year after she was a federal trial judge. The current three justices — Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, as well as John Roberts, who is the chief justice — all previously served on the appeals court.
Jackson was approved to the appeals court in a 53-44 vote. He won the support of three Republicans: Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Susan Collins from Maine, and Lisa Murkowski from Alaska. This could be important for Biden , who has been reaching to the GOP for support when he selects a nominee. Another connection to the GOP: Jackson is married to Paul Ryan, R.-Wis.
Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Miami. Ellery and Johnny Brown, Jackson’s parents, gave their name to Jackson as a way to show their pride in the African heritage of her family. An aunt from Africa, who was serving in the Peace Corps at the time, asked them to send a list with names for African girls. They chose Ketanji Onyika which meant “lovely one”.
Her interest in law dates back to her preschool days, when her father was in law school. They would often sit at the table together, she with coloring books and she with law books. Her mother was a high school principal and her father became an attorney for county school boards. Her brother, nine years older, served in the Army and was in Iraq. He is now a lawyer.
She was also the president of her high school’s public high school class, and a debate champion in high school. Richard B. Rosenthal is a lawyer who knew her since junior high. He said that there was no doubt she would succeed in whatever field she chooses. His older brother Stephen F. Rosenthal from Miami, who was also a classmate and friend, described her as a “natural leader” with “penetrating intellect.”
She studied government at Harvard, but she was also involved in musical theater and drama. She was once assigned Matt Damon, an actor in drama class, and she said that he didn’t know her. Damon confirmed that he does not but said so through a representative.
She met Patrick Jackson at Harvard. They have two daughters: Leila, a letter-writer, is in high school and Talia, her older sister is in college.
Patrick Jackson, a surgeon has a Twitter account that almost exclusively focuses on medicine. In a tweet, which has since been deleted, he wrote to remind us of an important legal date on June 12. It marked the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court decision that ended interracial marriage bans. Happy Loving Day! Jackson added a photo of his wife and wrote: “I am particularly thankful to be walking in life with a brilliant, compassionate partner who still takes me breath away, made possible through sacrifices like Richard Loving and Mildred Loving.”
They were married in 1996. Jackson served as a law clerk for Breyer at the Supreme Court from 1999 to 2000.
Deborah Pearlstein was a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens in the same year Jackson worked at Breyer. She recalls Jackson being funny, insightful, and “incredibly good at her work.”
Pearlstein stated, “I don’t know anyone there at that time who didn’t get along with Ketanji.”
Jackson worked in large law firms over the course of her career, but she also served as a public defender. She was nominated for the U.S. Senate. She said that she learned to knit after being nominated to the U.S. Sentencencing Commission, which is responsible for determining federal sentencing policy. She was a member of the unanimous vote that allowed thousands of crack-related criminals to have their sentences reduced under a new law.
Jackson doesn’t see prison as a distant idea. According to The Washington Post, Jackson’s uncle was in prison for life for drug-related crimes. Obama commuted it.
Jackson’s work with the Sentencing Commission helped her get her federal judge title. In her office, she had a copy of Clarence Gideon’s famous handwritten petition to Supreme Court. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court granted a lawyer to criminal defendants who cannot afford one.
She ordered Don McGahn, former White House counsel, to appear before Congress in one of her most prominent decisions. This was a blow to the efforts of former President Donald Trump to prevent his top aides testifying before Congress. McGahn’s testimony was eventually allowed to stand. The case was appealed.
Jackson was also involved in the “pizzagate” online conspiracy theory, unfounded internet rumors that prominent Democrats were harboring child-sex slaves at Washington pizza restaurants. An AR-15 assault rifle was brought by a North Carolina man to the restaurant. Jackson called it “sheer fortune” and no one was hurt. sentenced Jackson to four years imprisonment.
Jackson’s record as an appeals court judge is much shorter.
In recent days, her opinion was published. It was written for a unanimous, three-judge panel favoring labor unions. She joined her colleagues in declining to stop the Biden administration depriving people of their homes during the coronavirus outbreak. ruled againstan attempt by Trump to protect documents from the House investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection in the Capitol. These decisions were appealed to Supreme Court. The justices allowed evictions to resume but also allowed documents’ release.
Jackson also has the endorsement of the man who will replace her at the Supreme Court. Breyer was reportedly the one who called Breyer during her initial nomination to federal judge. He reportedly said that he picked up the phone and began the conversation by saying two words: “Hire him!”
