Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as Supreme Court justice
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By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
WASHINGTON — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in Thursday as an associate justice of the Supreme Court following the retirement of longtime Justice Stephen Breyer, making her the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court.
Update 12:08 p.m. June 30: Jackson took a constitutional oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts and a judicial oath administered by Breyer.
A formal investiture ceremony is scheduled to take place in the fall, Roberts said.
Original report: President Joe Biden nominated Jackson, 51, to fill Breyer’s seat after the justice announced in January that he planned to retire after nearly three decades on the Supreme Court. In April, the Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Jackson’s nomination.
Jackson will become the sixth woman to serve on the Supreme Court, joining current justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett. It will be the first time that four women are serving simultaneously on the nation’s highest court. She will also become the third Black justice to sit on the court after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.
At Thursday’s ceremony, scheduled to begin at noon, Jackson will take a pair of oaths: a constitutional oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts and a judicial oath administered by Breyer.
Jackson has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit since 2021 following eight years as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“I have been a judge for nearly a decade now, and I take that responsibility and my duty to be independent very seriously,” she said during her confirmation hearing earlier this year. “I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath.
She earlier served as a federal public defender, a role no other Supreme Court justice in history has held.
Breyer, 83, has served on the Supreme Court since being appointed to his seat by then-President Bill Clinton in 1994. The 83-year-old confirmed Wednesday that he would step down after the court issued its final opinions of the term on Thursday.
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is seen during a meeting with U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) on Capitol Hill March 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson continued to meet with Senate members on Capitol Hill ahead of her confirmation vote. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 04: U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) on Capitol Hill April 04, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting today to hold a vote on the nomination of Jackson. If approved by the committee, the full Senate is expected to vote later this week. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 05: U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in his office on Capitol Hill, on April 05, 2022 in Washington, DC. Judge Jackson's confirmation vote in the Senate is expected later this week. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, right, meets with Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: (L-R) Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) meets with Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson Capitol Hill March 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. Judge Jackson continues to meet with Senate members on Capitol Hill ahead of her confirmation vote. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson shakes Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-CO) hand before meeting in his office on March 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. Yesterday Jackson concluded her final day of questioning during her confirmation hearings with the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court FILE - Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 8, 2022. Collins will vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson, giving Democrats at least one Republican vote and all but assuring that she will become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 04: U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) on Capitol Hill, April 04, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting today to hold a vote on the nomination of Jackson. If approved by the Committee the full Senate is expected to vote later this week. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) (R) meets with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson (L) on Capitol Hill March 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson continued to meet with Senate members on Capitol Hill ahead of her confirmation vote. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: (L-R) Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) meets with Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Capitol Hill March 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. Judge Jackson continues to meet with Senate members on Capitol Hill ahead of her confirmation vote. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 05: U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson (R) walks with former Senator Doug Jones as she makes her way to a meeting with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Capitol Hill, on April 05, 2022 in Washington, DC. Judge Jackson's confirmation vote in the Senate is expected later this week. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 05: U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson talks to her staff on Capitol Hill, on April 05, 2022 in Washington, DC. Judge Jackson's confirmation vote in the Senate is expected later this week. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) (R) meets with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson (L) on Capitol Hill March 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson continued to meet with Senate members on Capitol Hill ahead of her confirmation vote. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court Sen. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., speaks to reporters as she meets with Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson in his office on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik/AP)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-MN) (L) and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson pose for photographs before meeting in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 28, 2022 in Washington, DC. Nominated by President Joe Biden to replace the retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson continues to meet with senators ahead of her confirmation vote. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 04: U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson meets with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) on Capitol Hill April 04, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting today to hold a vote on the nomination of Jackson. If approved by the committee, the full Senate is expected to vote later this week. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Photos: Ketanji Brown Jackson nominated to US Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes emotional as Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) speaks during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill March 23, 2022 in Washington, DC. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden's pick to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court, would become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court if confirmed. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson In this image from video provided by the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts administers the Constitutional Oath to Ketanji Brown Jackson as her husband Patrick Jackson holds the Bible at the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 30, 2022. (Supreme Court via AP) (AP)