Tipsheet

Biden Has Chosen a Supreme Court Nominee

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  February 25, 2022 9:15 AM

UPDATE: It's official. President Biden will host Judge Jackson at the White House for an official announcement Friday afternoon. 

Here's a look at Jackson's biography, put out by the White House.

Judge Jackson has devoted the majority of her career to serving the public—as a U.S. Sentencing Commission lawyer and commissioner; as a federal public defender; and as a federal judge. Judge Jackson currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. From 2013 to 2021, she served as a United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. She has been confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis three times – twice as judge and once to serve on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
 
Judge Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Miami, Florida. Her parents attended segregated primary schools in the South, then attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Both started their careers as public school teachers and became leaders and administrators in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. When Judge Jackson told her high school guidance counselor she wanted to attended Harvard, the guidance counselor warned that Judge Jackson should not to set her sights “so high.” That didn’t stop Judge Jackson. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, then attended Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

After law school, Judge Jackson served in Justice Breyer’s chambers as a law clerk. Judge Jackson served as a federal public defender from 2005 to 2007, representing defendants on appeal who did not have the means to pay for a lawyer. If confirmed, she would be the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.

Prior to serving as a judge, Judge Jackson followed in the footsteps of her mentor Justice Breyer by working on the U.S. Sentencing Commission—an important body, bipartisan by design, that President Biden fought to create as a member of the U.S. Senate. Her work there focused on reducing unwarranted sentencing disparities and ensuring that federal sentences were just and proportionate.

Judge Jackson lives with her husband, Patrick, who serves as Chief of the Division of General Surgery at Georgetown University Hospital, and two daughters, in Washington, D.C.

***Original post***

President Joe Biden is expected to announced D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown as his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court nominee Stephen Breyer. Brown is 51-years-old and if confirmed, will be the first black woman to hold the position. 

Biden committed to making his decision on Breyer's replacement by the end of February. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to get her confirmation hearing underway as soon as possible. 

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News broke Thursday Democratic Senator Joe Manchin preferred U.S. District Court Judge Michelle Childs as Biden's choice. 

The Judicial Crisis Network is warning Brown is not a mainstream replacement for Breyer. 

This story has been updated with additional information.