Washington, DC – Foreign Policy for America congratulates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on her historic nomination to the Supreme Court. The range and diversity of her experience, combined with her qualifications and strong judicial record, will ensure that the voice and interests of everyday Americans will be well represented in the highest court.
Judge Jackson, who previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, has had a long, distinguished, and varied career. This includes time spent in private practice, three federal clerkships, and at the U.S. Sentencing Commission, first on staff and subsequently as a member of the commission. Aside from being the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice, she will also be the first since Thurgood Marshall to have had significant experience representing criminal defendants, having spent two years as public defender from 2005-2007. In this capacity she worked tirelessly on behalf of numerous detainees at Guantanamo Bay who were later repatriated.
Before being confirmed to the D.C. Circuit last year, with bipartisan support, she served seven years as a U.S. district court judge, handing down numerous important rulings protecting civil rights and liberties and upholding the institutions of our democracy. This includes a major 2019 decision halting the Trump Administration’s early efforts to expedite the deportation of migrants as a violation of immigration law.
“In recent years, we have seen how judicial decisions can affect aspects of both foreign and domestic policy in major ways,” said Andrew Albertson, Executive Director of Foreign Policy for America. “If we needed a reminder of this, on Monday the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in West Virginia v. EPA, a case that will shape the Administration’s ability to act on climate change and meet our domestic and international commitments. We need more justices who will defend the sound application of our country’s environmental laws to the pressing issue we face in climate change and we are confident Judge Jackson will do just that. FP4A is proud to support her confirmation.”
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