Jackson sworn in, becomes 1st Black woman on Supreme Court

Associated Press
By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to the Supreme Court on Thursday, shattering a glass ceiling as the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court.

The 51-year-old Jackson is the court’s 116th justice, and she took the place of the justice she once worked for. Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement took effect at noon.

FILE – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is a U.S. Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, poses for a portrait, Feb., 18, 2022, at the court in Washington. The first Black woman confirmed for the Supreme Court, Jackson, is officially becoming a justice. Jackson will be sworn as the court’s 116th justice at midday Thursday, June 30, just as the man she is replacing, Justice Stephen Breyer, retires. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Moments later, joined by her family, Jackson recited the two oaths required of Supreme Court justices, one administered by Breyer and the other by Chief Justice John Roberts.

FILE – President Joe Biden talks with Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as they watch the Senate vote on her confirmation from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, April 7, 2022. The first Black woman confirmed for the Supreme Court, Jackson, is officially becoming a justice. Jackson will be sworn as the court’s 116th justice at midday Thursday, June 30, just as the man she is replacing, Justice Stephen Breyer, retires. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

“With a full heart, I accept the solemn responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States and administering justice without fear or favor, so help me God,” Jackson said in a statement issued by the court. “I am truly grateful to be part of the promise of our great Nation. I extend my sincerest thanks to all of my new colleagues for their warm and gracious welcome.”

Roberts welcomed Jackson “to the court and our common calling.” The ceremony was streamed live on the court’s website.

Jackson, a federal judge since 2013, is joining three other women, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett — the first time four women will serve together on the nine-member court.

Biden nominated Jackson in February, a month after Breyer, 83, announced he would retire at the end of the court’s term, assuming his successor had been confirmed. Breyer’s earlier-than-usual announcement and the condition he attached was a recognition of the Democrats’ tenuous hold on the Senate in an era of hyper-partisanship, especially surrounding federal judgeships.

FILE – President Joe Biden listens as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks during an event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 8, 2022, celebrating the confirmation of Jackson as the first Black woman to reach the Supreme Court. The first Black woman confirmed for the Supreme Court, Jackson, is officially becoming a justice. Jackson will be sworn as the court’s 116th justice at midday Thursday, June 30, just as the man she is replacing, Justice Stephen Breyer, retires. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

The Senate confirmed Jackson’s nomination in early April, by a 53-47 mostly party-line vote that included support from three Republicans.

Jackson had been in a sort of judicial limbo since, remaining a judge on the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., but not hearing any cases. Biden elevated her to that court from the district judgeship to which she was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Jackson will be able to begin work immediately, but the court will have just finished the bulk of its work until the fall, apart from emergency appeals that occasionally arise. That will give her time to settle in and familiarize herself with the roughly two dozen cases the court already has agreed to hear starting in October as well as hundreds of appeals that will pile up over the summer.

FILE – President Joe Biden listens as Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announces his retirement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Jan. 27, 2022. Breyer said in a letter to President Joe Biden that his retirement will take effect on Thursday, June 30, at noon, after nearly 28 years on the nation’s highest court. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE – In this May 16, 1994, file photo President Bill Clinton and his Supreme Court nominee Stephen Breyer leave the White House in Washington, for the Rose Garden where the President officially introduced Breyer to the nation. Breyer said in a letter to President Joe Biden that his retirement will take effect on Thursday, June 30, 2022, at noon, after nearly 28 years on the nation’s highest court. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)

The court issued final opinions earlier Thursday after a momentous and rancorous term that included overturning Roe v. Wade’s guarantee of the right to an abortion. One of Thursday’s decisions limited how the Environmental Protection Agency can use the nation’s main anti-air pollution law to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, a blow to the fight against climate change.