Magnolia Bar Association backs confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as 116th
President Joseph Biden has appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
On February 25, 2022, 116th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Jackson currently sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Magnolia Bar Association strongly supports Justice Jackson’s confirmation and urges Mississippi Senators Roger Wicker, Cindy Hyde-Smith and the United States Senate to act quickly on her confirmation.
While Justice Jackson has unsurprisingly been the subject of a horde of baseless criticism from her detractors, she is certainly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court by any objective standard. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University and Harvard Law School with honors, Justice Jackson served as a law clerk at every level of our federal court system, including a coveted internship with her eventual predecessor, Justice Stephen Breyer.
Following her tenure as a lawyer to three federal judges, Judge Jackson became committed to upholding the constitutional rights of criminal defendants as an assistant federal public defender. She continued her illustrious legal career in a private law firm in Washington, DC as a member of the firm’s Supreme Court Practice and Appeals team.
In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Judge Jackson to the United States Sentencing Commission, and she was confirmed with bipartisan support in 2010. Three years later, President Obama appointed Judge Jackson as District Judge of the United States for the District of Columbia in 2012. .
She was confirmed with bipartisan support in 2013. After nearly nine years of service as a district judge, Judge Jackson was nominated and confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in 2021. In addition to her excellent qualifications, Justice Jackson brings a diverse experience and perspective long overdue to our nation’s highest court. If confirmed, Justice Jackson would be the first African-American female Supreme Court justice as well as the first former public defender in the High Court’s 233-year history.
The appointment of Justice Jackson is historic and speaks to the promise of our Constitution. Her credentials are unquestionable and she is perfectly equipped to continue her streak of excellence on the Supreme Court.
The Magnolia Bar Association urges the Senate to quickly confirm Judge Jackson.
About the Magnolia Bar Association – The Magnolia Bar Association was organized in the fall of 1955 at the law office of the late attorney Jack H. Young, Sr. in the Redmond Building at 115-½ North Farish St. , Jackson, MS. The founders of the Magnolia Bar Association were attorneys James A. Burnes, Meridian, MS; Mayor Benjamin T. Green, Mound Bayou, MS; Emette Perkins, Natchez, MS; Onette Johnson, Prentiss, MS; Jack H. Young, Sr., Jackson, MS; Carsie A. Hall, Jackson, MS; and R. Jess Brown, Vicksburg, MS. These eight attorneys constituted virtually the entire black bar of Mississippi. Members of the Magnolia Bar Association, having been organized shortly after the Brown v. Board of Education decision banning segregation in public schools, have faced various issues involving the law with respect to racial conflict arising from blacks’ application for first-class citizenship in Mississippi.
