BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Black History Month is almost over, but our celebration of Black excellence will continue beyond February.
The Biden Administration announced Friday that Ketanji Brown Jackson is officially nominated to the Supreme Court.
This makes Jackson the first Black woman nominee to the highest bench in the country.
The first Black female Justice of the Kern County Superior Court said this is exciting to hear.
History was made with Ketanji Brown Jackson becoming Biden’s nominee for the United States Supreme Court.
Gloria Canon made history herself five years ago, that’s when she became the first African American female judge of the Kern County Superior Court.
“You become a judicial officer when you become an attorney. When you are seeking excellence, you don't do it because you’re African American. It’s about who you are as a person, and I hope that they look beyond their color, and see all that she’s done.”
This nomination does fulfill Joe Biden’s promise to fill the vacant seat with a Black woman.
“I also recognize what it would mean to our country, what it means to young African Americans to know that those doors are open to them.”
According to the Pew Research Center, of the 3843 people to serve on the federal judiciary only 70 have been Black women. That’s under two percent.
23ABC Political Analyst Dr. Jeanine Kraybill said, “This third branch of government, it has to be representative of the American people. So, I think in order to rectify that, you have to go out and be judicious, right? And thoughtful about getting the right candidate, because if people do not trust the judiciary, what else do we have left?”
As Cannon points out, Jackson got this far on her merits.
23ABC Political Analyst and Director of CSU Bakersfield Pre-Law Program Dr. Jeanine Kraybill said Jackson has been through the nomination before.
Those three other times, the sentencing commission, a U.S. District Court Judge in D.C., and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
“She’s willing to hear the facts of the case. She’s seemed to be independent-minded and impartial. Those are absolutely great qualities that you would want to have in a judge.”
Kraybill believes Jackson’s wealth of trial experience, time as a public defender and serving on the U.S. Sentencing Commission are things she will carry on to the Supreme Court.
“Her serving as vice-chair under the Obama administration, that was a bipartisan committee that really looked at sentencing disparities among people of color and different classifications of people of color in the federal system. Again, I think that really shows that she’s delved into some of the deepest issues that society is grappling with right now.”
