We Want a KBJ Doll!

Dear Leading Ladies,

Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed last week as an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court. She will be the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and her confirmation in the Senate was presided over by the first African American – male or female – vice president of the United States.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York introduced the proceedings. He said that Brown Jackson could best be described by the three words: “Brilliant. Beloved. Belongs.” Schumer proceeded to note many of Brown Jackson’s distinctive qualities, including that she will be the only Supreme Court Justice with experience as a public defender; that he could not find one word of criticism from any of her colleagues; and that a Gallup poll indicated almost 60% of Americans approve of her appointment. He recounted that the Senate has confirmed 115 Supreme Court Justices since its founding, 108 of them white men, two African American men, and six women, including Brown Jackson. Finally, the Court that has heard so many cases that affect Black women will have a Black woman weighing in. “Think of the impact on our democracy,” Schumer said, of having Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court.

Newsweek

He also spoke of the great role model the new Chief Justice will be for so many young Black girls. The senator acknowledged that the United States has a “long way to go on the road to full justice,” but “this is one of the great moments of American history,” he said, “as we rise to create a more perfect union.”

The final vote in the Senate was 53-47, with three Republicans voting for her: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitt Romney of Utah.

There is much to celebrate. But also much that still demands our vigilance.

The Road to Full Justice

History puts Brown Jackson’s ascension to the Supreme Court in perspective.

Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice, nominated in 1967 by President Lyndon Johnson. After graduating from Howard University Law School, Marshall spent several years working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, establishing himself as a potent force in the fight for civil rights. President John F. Kennedy then appointed Marshall to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1961. President Johnson made him Solicitor General in 1965, the first African American to hold that role.

Because of Marshall’s work in civil rights, some Republicans voiced opposition to his nomination to the Supreme Court, saying he was too partisan for the bench. Democrat Sam Ervin of North Carolina was one of those who opposed Marshall. He said, "It is clearly a disservice to the Constitution and the country to appoint a judicial activist to the Supreme Court at any time." Together with Ervin, a band of Southern senators, almost all Democrats, used riots in the nation’s cities and fears about crime to try and derail Marshall’s nomination. But they failed.

Ultimately, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-6 to send the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. Marshall was confirmed by the Senate on August 30, 1967, by a vote of 69–11 (37 Democrats and 32 Republicans voted in favor; 10 Democrats and one Republican voted against); 20 senators voted present or abstained (17 Democrats and three Republicans). Marshall served until his retirement in 1991, when President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas to replace him.

Meanwhile, Sandra Day O’Connor, a white Southwesterner, was nominated as the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The Judiciary Committee approved O'Connor with 17 votes in favor and one vote of present; then the Senate confirmed her 99-0 (one senator was absent), even though there had been quite a flap from conservatives about her refusal to commit to voting against abortion. (There were 47 Democrats and 53 Republicans in the Senate.)

Supremely Qualified Jurists

Ketanji Brown Jackson’s experience had more similarities to Marshall’s.

The vote of the 22-member Senate Judiciary Committee was an 11-11 tie, evenly split between Democrats and Republicans voting strictly along party lines. While Marshall’s detractors tried to use his work in civil rights to claim he was too partisan for the Supreme Court, those opposing Brown Jackson claimed she is soft on crime and child sex abusers. Her opponents are Republicans rather than the segregationist Democrats who condemned Marshall.

Like Marshall, Brown Jackson has impeccable qualifications. Like Marshall, Brown Jackson is a brilliant jurist admired by teachers, colleagues, and employees. Neither was ever associated with personal scandal or questionable ethics. Neither ever made a decision from the bench nor voiced an opinion that indicated they might follow their personal views rather than the law or the Constitution when considering a case before the Supreme Court.

Can that be said of other recent Supreme Court nominees? We think not.

It took almost 200 years for our nation to have an African American man on our highest court and another 55 to have an African American woman. And they both had to endure unprecedented insulting and demeaning questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

So, of course, there is much to celebrate today and, as Senator Cory Booker said during the confirmation hearings, no one should steal the joy of this moment. But tomorrow, the work continues. And, by the way, we all want a KBJ doll for our daughters and granddaughters. Okay, and maybe for ourselves.

Look for our next newsletter in two weeks. Until then, enjoy the Easter, Passover, and Ramadan holidays with your loved ones.

Stay well,
Therese
Judy
Mary
Leading Ladies Executive Team
Leadingladiesvote.org
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org