Penn Law reacts to the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

President Joe Biden has selected the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as his nominee to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Brown Jackson would replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who is retiring from the Court and for whom Brown Jackson served as a law clerk. and would be the first Black woman to serve as a justice.

Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a U.S. Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in her office at the court in Washington. (Image: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson currently serves on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to fill the seat of former-Attorney General Merrick Garland. Prior to that role, she served on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Brown Jackson has a deep respect for both the rule of law and the people impacted by her rulings. A former public defender and member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Judge Brown Jackson brought to the federal bench her commitment to ending sentencing disparities and promoting equal justice for all.

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Dean Ted Ruger expressed his enthusiastic support of Judge Jackson’s nomination. “In 1994 and 1995, we worked closely together during law school on the Harvard Law Review, where she stood out for her brilliance, her ability to work collegially with others, and the high opinion in which she was held on campus,” he says. “Judge Brown Jackson will bring all of those qualities to the Supreme Court, along with her decades of experience in various aspects of our legal system including two different federal judgeships.”

“Judge Jackson gave an incredibly empathetic and inspiring talk to our graduates extolling them to use the resilience, knowledge, and skills they learned as law students to fight for access to justice for all,” says Dean of Students Felicia Lin.

Read more at Penn Law News.