After weeks of private meetings and days of public testimony, marked by intense battles over judicial philosophy and personal concerns about race in America, Jackson gained close – but notable – bipartisan support to become the 116th Supreme Court justice. The vote was 53 to 47, with all Democrats in favor. They were joined by three moderate Republicans, Utah Senators Mitt Romney, Alaska Lisa Murkowski and Maine Susan Collins, who defied deep opposition to their party to support Joe Biden’s candidate. Their support was a welcome result for the White House, which intended to secure bipartisan confirmation. Jackson, who currently serves on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, will replace Judge Stephen Breyer, 83, the highest-ranking member of the court’s liberal bloc. Breyer, for whom Jackson worked early in her legal career, has said she plans to retire from court this summer. At 51, Jackson is young enough to serve on the floor for decades. Its rise, however, will do little to upset the ideological balance of the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority is 6-3. Kamala Harris, the first black woman to serve as vice president of the United States, chaired the Senate vote as Jackson became the first black woman to enter the Supreme Court, underscoring the historic nature of her affirmation. Harris called for a final vote on Jackson’s candidacy with a smile on his face and the room erupted in loud applause when the judge confirmed it. “Today, we are taking a giant, bold and important step on the road to fulfilling our country’s founding promises,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Sumer shortly before the final vote. “This is a great moment for Judge Jackson. “But it’s an even bigger moment for America as we move into a more perfect union.” The White House announced that Biden, Harris and Jackson will make remarks on Friday to celebrate the confirmation. Jackson and Biden watched the final Senate vote together in the Roosevelt Hall of the White House. Breaking Jackson’s record but acknowledging that Republicans did not have the votes to stop confirming it, minority leader Mitch McConnell begged the judge to embrace the conservative approach of conservative judges. “Justice is imminent that can either satisfy its radical fan club or help maintain the justice that Americans need, but not both,” McConnell said ahead of Thursday’s vote. “I’m afraid the candidate’s record tells us what is possible, but I hope Judge Jackson proves me wrong.” Reaffirming her lifelong position represents the fulfillment of a promise Biden made to his supporters in the run-up to his 2020 election campaign, when he promised to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court if elected president and a vacancy arises. The opportunity presented itself earlier this year, at another low point for Biden, with significant internal and external challenges plaguing his presidency. During the public hearings, Jackson vowed to be an independent judge seeking to ensure that the words on the marble building of the Supreme Court – Equal Justice Under the Law – were a “reality and not just an ideal.” With her parents and daughters present, Jackson narrated to the Senate Judiciary Committee her family’s genealogical journey as the daughter of a public school teacher who grew up in the divided South and would go up to court in a court that once denied citizenship. of Black Americans. Jackson at the Capitol in March. Jackson will replace retired Liberal Judge Stephen Breyer. Photo: Elizabeth Frantz / Reuters However, any hope of the White House that Jackson’s historic candidacy could defuse some of the bitter partisans mourning the senators has turned the process into a “circus” quickly evaporated. In the run-up to the November midterm elections, Republicans launched an aggressive campaign against the judge during her confirmation hearings and in the conservative media, raising questions about her background, in an attempt to brand her a “activist” the crime. They used the confirmation process to voice conservative grievances about previous Supreme Court nominations and to wage cultural warfare over critical racial theory, crime, and transgender women in sports. Some Republicans have accused Jackson of being too lenient with child sex offenders, claiming she vehemently rejected “as a mother and a judge.” Legal experts said that its decisions in such criminal cases were in line with the prevailing trend, while independent auditors concluded that the attacks were misleading and distorted its history. Democrats, and a handful of Republicans who supported her, praised her skills and behavior, and especially the restraint she displayed during some scathing exchanges with Conservative senators. They tried to defend her background, noting that her conviction history was in the mainstream of federal justice, while emphasizing the support she had gained from the legal community, including conservative judges, and her support from the Fraternal Police Battalion. who reported her family law enforcement history. As a sign of how polarizing the process of ratifying a candidate for the Supreme Court has become, the Senate Judiciary Committee found itself at a dead end according to the party’s lines regarding its candidacy. The resulting draw prompted Democrats to carry out a rare procedural maneuver to “discharge” her candidacy from the committee on the podium, by a vote in the plenary of the Senate. The NAACP said the 11-Republican vote against Jackson’s candidacy was a “stain” on the committee. The last vote in the Senate to ratify it was one of the closest in the history of the Supreme Court. A graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School, Jackson served on the U.S. Independent Sentencing Commission, a service that develops sentencing guidelines before becoming a federal judge. While sharing a historical elite with other judges, her work as a public defender makes her stand out. The last judge with experience representing criminals was Thurgood Marshall, the top civil rights lawyer who became the first black member of the Supreme Court.
