There is a street named after Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
The First Black Woman Circuit Court Judge, Jacqueline Jackson, took the Oath on Thursday, July 19. He was 63 years old, and inaugurated on July 21, 2020
The Supreme Court, a place bound by tradition and formality, will hold one of its most scripted rituals on Friday for a justice whose appointment broke the mold of history.
Jackson made history last year when she was sworn into the nation’s highest court, becoming the first Black woman to hold a seat on the bench. She attended high school in Miami and participated in debate tournaments.
The presidential commission will begin by saying, “know ye” and “reposing special trust and confidence in the wisdom, uprightness, and learning of Ketanji Brown Jackson.”
Jackson took her official Supreme Court oath at the end of June after Justice Stephen Breyer retired. Jackson has been voting on emergency cases and preparing for the upcoming session. She participated in Wednesday’s first closed-door session for the new term, as the nine culled through case petitions that had arrived over the summer and hashed out procedures for their building, opening to the public for the first time since it was closed in March 2020 because of Covid-19.
The symbolic moment was created by Biden, who during his 2020 campaign promised to appoint the first Black woman justice. Women and people of color make up 70% of the federal judges he’s nominated. He has nominated 13 Black women as circuit court judges, with seven confirmed so far.
The sitting of the court to receive a commission of a new justice was started in the early 1970s by Warren Burger, who was enamored with the trappings of the institution.
Burger started to use the Marshall chair with brass nail trim and a black horsehair seat. The new justice is sitting in the chair before he takes the oath.
Friday’s investiture, the first for a Democratic appointee in 12 years, is also likely to bring out, along with family and friends of Jackson, progressive luminaries of the law. The Republican old guard used to go in the courtroom before the events. There will be a reception at the court. Outside, crowds of well-wishers sometimes gather. Occasionally, it’s protesters.
These investitures have not been glitch free as carefully arranged. The attorney general usually stands at the lectern to present the commission, which has been previously signed by the president.
The day before the formal investiture for the new judge, Donald Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions for unrelated reasons. Matthew was instructed by the acting attorney general to refer the commission to the court.
Due to the precautions against the swine flue, the audience for the investiture of her successor, Barrett, was scaled back and Kavanaugh’s chair was empty. He had just tested positive for Covid-19.
The inaugural inaugural ceremony of the new U.S. supreme court: A tribute to Lewis Powell and William R. Rehnquist
US District Court Judges from Massachusetts and New Hampshire are on her list as are US Appeals Court Judge Ray Lohier of New York.
Patrick Jackson is the husband of the new justice, and will be in the courtroom with their two daughters. Jackson grew up in the Miami area, and her parents who still live in Florida, Johnny and Ellery Brown, are scheduled to attend the ceremony.
The first justice to be seated, for investiture purposes, in the chair of Chief Justice Marshall (who served 1801-1835) was Lewis Powell in January 1972. He was immediately followed by William Rehnquist, sworn in on the same day as an associated justice. He became the chief justice in 1986.
The Powell and Rehnquist appointments were made by Richard Nixon. The New York Times claims that there was a picketer with a sign outside of the investiture that had a message for America.
Already on the calendar are disputes testing whether colleges and universities may continue to use students’ race as a factor in admissions for campus diversity and the breadth of Voting Rights Act protections against discriminatory electoral practices.
Roberts will administer a judicial oath during which a new justice swears to be impartial and do equal right to the poor and the rich.
The chief justice of the United States quipped to photographers that they have never seen him with a better-looking justice.
Changing the name of the street in Jackson’s memory to give hope and strength to what is possible in the country, not just what it takes
“I hope that this street naming will also serve as a testament to what is possible in this great country,” Jackson said at a ceremony Monday.. I hope that people who are driving by reflect on what it means for a person from this neighborhood and someone with a background like mine, to be well-equipped enough to do the things that they want to do, even though it might not be easy.
The Commissioner also acknowledged Jackson’s parents, who were in attendance at the ceremony, saying they, “Taught the importance of education and hard work but also to love your country even when your country did not love you back.”
