On January 27, 2022, Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intention to retire. In a letter to the President (PDF), Justice Breyer wrote that he intended for his retirement “to take effect when the Court rises for the summer recess this year (typically late June or early July) assuming that by then my successor has been nominated and confirmed.” President Biden announced his "intent to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court" on February 25, 2022. Justice Jackson's nomination was President Biden's first U.S. Supreme Court nomination; she is the first Black woman to be nominated and confirmed to the high court. The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Justice Jackson’s nomination March 21-24; links to video recordings of the hearings are provided below under "Congressional Materials." On April 7, 2022, the Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Justice Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson was sworn into the Supreme Court as an associate justice on June 30, 2022.
Researchers may review the additional resources below to learn about Ketanji Brown Jackson, including a brief biography, articles by and about her, judicial opinions she has authored, previous congressional hearings testimony, and more.
Ketanji Brown Jackson is the 104th Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to her ascension to the Supreme Court, Justice Jackson served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Before her appointment to the Court of Appeals, she served as a Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Her previous positions include serving as the Vice Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission (2010-2013), an Assistant Federal Public Defender (D.C.) (2005-2007), an Assistant Special Counsel of the U.S. Sentencing Commission (2003-2005), a law clerk for the Hon. Stephen G. Breyer, Supreme Court of the U.S. (1999-2000), a law clerk for the Hon. Bruce M. Selya, U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit (1997-1998), and a law clerk for the Hon. Patti B. Saris, U.S. Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts (1996-1997). She worked in private practice, with Miller Cassidy Larroca & Lewin (1998-1999), Goodwin Procter (2000-2002), The Feinberg Group (2002-2003), and Morrison & Foerster (2007-2010). Justice Jackson is a graduate of Harvard University (BA, JD).
For more information on Justice Jackson’s education and background, see the resources listed under "Books/Articles About."
Harvard Law Review
Almanac of the Federal Judiciary by According to the Lexis Advance legal research database, Judge Jackson authored 585 rulings while serving on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. District Court decisions authored by Judge Jackson can be found on the court's website. (Select "District Court Opinions," select a specific year from the drop-down menu, and search by name). While sitting on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Judge Jackson has authored two opinions. Cases in which she participated are also available on Google Scholar External. (On the Google Scholar homepage, select “Case law” and then click on “Select courts.” On the next page, select the relevant court(s) under “D.C. Circuit” and click “Done.” On the search page, use “Ketanji Brown Jackson” as a search term). Visitors to the Law Library of Congress, and other law libraries, can also use legal research databases such as Lexis Advance, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law to perform more targeted searching for majority opinions by Judge Jackson.
Selected opinions written by Judge Jackson are listed below:
