By: Tricia Desroches

The Senate is voting to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on April 7, 2022. She was nominated by President Joe Biden. She will be the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court as well as the first justice to represent indigent criminal defendants since Thurgood Marshall. All 50 Democratic senators have said that they will be voting for her confirmation. There are a few Republicans that have said that they will vote for her nomination. 

She was the Vice-Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission from 2010 to 2014 and has served as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 2021. It took a total of 41 days to confirm her SCOTUS nomination, and she will be the 116th Associate Judge of the Supreme Court. 

Despite Jackson having graduated from Harvard Law School, many Republicans have tried to prove that she still wouldn’t be qualified for SCOTUS. For example, Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennesee tried to spread the rumor that Judge Brown is very lenient when it comes to child abuse. Jackson has also been attacked for her being bipartisan. 

She served eight years as a federal judge. Before she became a judge she was a public defender. SHe will be the first Supreme Court Justice since Thurgood Marshall to represent indigent criminal defendants. She has enough people that are going to vote for her to get nominated.