FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 25, 2022

KANSAS CITY, MO. – President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he will nominate U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to succeed her retiring mentor, Justice Stephen Breyer.

Judge Jackson would not only be the first Black female to sit on the Supreme Court, but the first public defender. She graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School and has extensive experience as a defense lawyer and judge in the state of Washington. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has a proven track record of attracting bipartisan support in the Senate. She’s been confirmed three times on a bipartisan vote – and there’s no reason to not expect the same as she is now considered for the Supreme Court.

President Biden promised to nominate a Black woman exactly two years ago during his campaign, doubling down on that promise when Justice Breyer announced his plan to retire. This decision was made after a thorough and rigorous process with input from Senators of both parties and legal experts in a bipartisan tradition to ensure the richness of our country is represented in its leadership and on the highest Court. 

Missouri Democratic Party Executive Director Randy Dunn released the following statement on the historic announcement:

“This nomination is extraordinary and will be celebrated for decades to come – not just by legal minds and intellectuals, but by me and the Black communities across our country. Judge Jackson is one of the brightest legal minds in the US, which of course makes her a qualified candidate. But, she is also a person. A woman who has faced structural, ignorant and destructive discrimination. A woman who has witnessed both the positives and negatives of our U.S. justice system, after growing up in a family of police officers but also working to commute a family member jailed for a nonviolent drug offense. She is a well-rounded nominee not just in legal accomplishments, but in her ability to understand and interpret the Constitution to benefit everyday Missourians and Americans.”

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