Last Updated on July 1, 2022 by BVN
Breanna Reeves |
Ketanji Brown Jackson was officially sworn in to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, June 30, 2022 replacing Justice Stephen Breyer who officially stepped down from his role as a Supreme Court Justice at noon.
In a letter submitted to President Joe Biden, Justice Breyer acknowledged that Justice Jackson is prepared to take the appropriate oaths and begin her service.
“It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law,” Justice Breyer stated in his letter.
Justice Jackson, 51, was confirmed to the court in April in a 53-47 Senate vote on her nomination. On Thursday, she took a judicial oath and a constitutional oath, securing her role as the 116th justice, making history as the first Black woman and only the sixth woman justice overall to serve on the nation’s highest court.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. administered Justice Jackson’s constitutional oath while Justice Breyer administered her judicial oath. Her husband, Dr. Patrick G. Jackson held two Bibles — a family Bible and a King James version — as she was sworn into the court.
“I’m pleased to welcome Justice Jackson to the court and to our common calling,” Chief Justice Roberts said during the ceremony. A formal induction for Justice Jackson is expected to take place in the fall.
Jackson’s tenure on the bench began during a hectic week that opened with the Supreme Court vote overturning Roe v. Wade, and continued with the justices voting to allow state authorities to prosecute non-Native Americans who commit crimes against Native Americans on their land in eastern Oklahoma. The court also determined that failure to provide Miranda warnings will no longer expose law enforcement to potential damages in civil lawsuits (though it does not exclude this as evidence in criminal trials). The court also struck down a near 100-year gun law in New York that placed restrictions on carrying concealed handguns outside the home. The ruling will change the framework used by lower courts as they consider other gun restrictions, like weapons bans in California, for example. This week’s controversial rulings also included the high Court’s decision to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants.
During her confirmation hearing in April, Justice Jackson faced several intense rounds of questioning from conservative members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Following the conclusion of the hearing, Justice Jackson received words of encouragement from other members of the committee like Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) who expressed elation at her nomination, and did so again following her official ceremony on June 30.
“The United States of America is better today because of you: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,” Booker tweeted.