On April 7th, 2022, the Supreme Court revealed a new judge: Ketanji Brown Jackson! Jackson was elected because the former, honorable Justice Stephen Breyer, announced his retirement and that he was going to be stepping down from his position on January 27th, 2022. According to a Newsela article, “Jackson will secure a legacy on the court for Biden and fulfill his 2020 campaign pledge to nominate the first Black female justice,”

A brief preview: Ketanji Brown Jackson was born on September 14, 1970 and remains the second youngest judge in all of Supreme Court history. Ms. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C and raised in Miami, Florida. Ketanji decided to remain loyal to D.C and on March 26, 2013, she became a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She later resigned from her position in 2021.

According to CNN, Mrs. Jackson is the most popular nominee to be confirmed since John Roberts in 2005! She held that popularity status when 53% of Americans reported supporting her confirmation. While she held more than half of Americans’ hearts, about 26% of Americans opposed her confirmation. In fact, 47 out of 50 Republican Caucus members in the Supreme Court opposed Ketanji’s nomination. Despite this opposition against Ketanji, Ms. Jackson was nominated by all the members of the Democratic Caucus and became an official judge of the Supreme Court!

Speaking of popularity, let’s see what Glasgow feels about Ketanji Brown Jackson!

Lorena Raymondo, an 8th-grader at Glasgow said, “My first thoughts are that she sounds like a cool person. When I first heard her name I already knew she was black and it’s amazing to see the first black woman in the Supreme Court after all these decades. I want to know more about her and how she could inspire me and other black women/girls.”

Another 8th grader, Diana Prudius said, “I support her for many reasons. My views align with hers, and I feel she will bring more peace, fairness, and morals to the court. She is also one of the few Supreme Court Justices with a background in criminal justice, so she will have lots of information and can be very helpful in the rulings of those cases. I also think it’s important that all kinds of people are represented, so I’m glad she was chosen.”

Finally, Mrs. Sabol, an 8th grade Civics teacher said, “I think that Judge Jackson is extremely qualified and will be a great addition to the Supreme Court. I am so excited that our nation’s highest court will now more closely resemble the population of our country.”

As you can see, the honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson is popular among the teachers and students at Glasgow. Let’s see what Judge Jackson brings to the Supreme Court in the next few years!