By JAYCIE DOERR, WC Opinions Editor
Serving as a Supreme Court Justice is a lifetime bid, the only way out is death or retirement. Justice Stephan Bryer announced his retirement in January of this year, so a new Justice must be chosen for the job.
President Joe Biden announced his nominee in late February. A nomination that, if confirmed by the Senate, will be a historical one. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson could be our first female African American Justice. First though, Judge Jackson has to go through a Senate hearing that will question her personal and professional life.
For context, Jackson was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Miami, Florida. She set her sights on Harvard in high school and graduated from there as magna cum laude. Later she graduated from Harvard Law as cum laude. Jackson served Justice Bryer as his law clerk after law school, then became a public defender.
While some senators have come forward in support of Judge Jackson, there are those that oppose her nomination. Accusations from right-winged senators say that Biden only picked Jackson for reasons of race and gender. “At some point judicial philosophy will and should be a significant determining factor,” Sen. Roy Blunt said while speaking about whether he will confirm Jackson. FOX host Tucker Carlson has demanded that her LSAT scores be released to prove she is worthy of the seat.
All 50 Senate Democrats are expected to vote in favor, however, she has not been given a lot of support by Republicans. They hope that the status of Jackson’s historic nomination will be enough to push votes. Most Republicans have said they will keep an open mind about the candidate and while they wish they could confirm her based on race and gender, they do not believe it would be constitutionally right to do so.
