Ketanji Brown Jackson Appointed as First Black Woman to Serve on US Supreme Court

Gray Frame Corner

On Thursday, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, was sworn in, making history for the country.

White Frame Corner

For the first time in 233 years, white men do not dominate the nation's highest court thanks to Democratic President Joe Biden's appointment of the 51-year-old.

Jackson’s “historic swearing in today represents a profound step forward for our nation, for all the young, Black girls who now see themselves reflected on our highest court, and for all of us as Americans,” Biden said in a statement Thursday.

White Frame Corner

“Amid this court’s cruel assault on Americans’ health, freedom and security, she will be a much needed force for equal justice for all,” Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, said in a statement.

In the brief ceremony on Thursday, Jackson merely spoke to take her oaths.

Gray Frame Corner
Gray Frame Corner

The swearing-in of Jackson is a significant occasion for Biden, who presided over the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1980s and 1990s, giving him the unheard-of distinction of both naming and supervising the appointment of a Supreme Court justice.

Biden also thanked the justice who Jackson replaced, Steven Breyer, for his years on the court.

“Justice Breyer’s integrity and his commitment to ensuring our nation’s laws worked for the people have made him beloved by his colleagues and deeply respected across our country I thank him again for his many years of exemplary service,”

-Biden said in the statement released by the White House.