Thoughts on her appointment

One of Joe Biden’s biggest campaign promises was that he would put a black woman on the Supreme Court given the opportunity. With the loss it was the Democratic Party at the loss of the icon, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, to cancer, it’s not a surprise that they want to avoid another surprise and give the Democratic Party a chance to choose a more liberal nominee to keep the courts as balanced as possible.

Conservatives have brought up concerns over nominating someone to the courts solely based on the merit of skin color. After all, Dr. King said we should judge people based on the content of their character, not their skin color. Some feared that a judge would be nominated with skin color being the motivating premise would keep better-qualified judges from being chosen.

Others thought the idea that black people would need extra help to get on the Supreme Court was inherently insulting. Others felt it was insinuated that black people would never make it on the court at their merit.

All of which brings us to the women of the hour. What should you know about the newest Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson?

Judge Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Miami by to two loving parents. Her parents attended historically black universities and went on to become school teachers.

Jacksons’s love of law can be traced back to her dad, who attended law school while she was in preschool. She graduated from Harvard and Harvard Law with honors. She and her husband have two children.

In terms of experience, she most certainly has some in law. She has been on the: U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. Sentencing Commission, a Public Defender and Supreme Court Clerk.

It’s also worth noting that she will be the first Supreme Court judge if nominated to have been a public defender. Secondly, she has been put in most of her previous positions by nomination and inducted under bipartisan support.

Furthermore, having read some of her notable opinions on court rulings, her decisions seem closely related to the constitution and constitutional precedence.

She is also no Trump supporter, and she has stopped Trump from overreaching in one instance, writing, “Presidents are not kings…absolute immunity from the compelled congressional process simply does not exist.” After Trump “forbade” his aides from testifying before congress, she wrote this.

If you want my opinion, I have yet to see any dissents made by her that I disagree with. She appears to be more than qualified and ready to take up the mantle of Supreme Court justice.

As a centrist, I don’t see her political opinions as too far left or right, and she uses the constitution to guide her decisions, which is the most enormous ask of any judge.

As for the concerns about her race, I think those beliefs hold little water once scrutinized. She has enough experience and a history of essential nominations, showing that she is qualified for high court positions is not unprecedented.

The Supreme Court should also reflect the demographics of the American people. If the courts reflected the demographics of the American people, it would have more justices of color and more women on the bench.

That’s not to say that gender, race or any demographic factory are the only things that matter. The experience should be the number one priority. The reality is that people of different backgrounds have different experiences.

While Dr. King is correct, we should judge people based on their character; we also need to recognize the implicit bias that could be preventing people with the power to make these decisions from choosing people who are different from themselves.

However, I feel like the Biden administration has made some errors in choosing this justice. Not with the judge herself, she’s going the be unique, and I can’t wait to read her opinions moving forward.

No, the issue I have with this process is the Biden dministration’s language in choosing a justice. A few weeks ago, I talked with my dad, and we were talking about prayer.

There are a lot of people I pray for. But I don’t need to test them every time I pray that I have done so. There comes the point when saying, “I am praying for you,” becomes a way of being perceived as a better person than actually doing any spiritual good. If you need to tell everyone what a good person you are, you are not actually a good person.

And that’s kind of how I feel the Biden administration has handled this conversation. Their number one qualification was putting a black woman on the court. If they wanted more diversity, which I support on the court, then they should do that. But so much of the conversation has been around her race.

Few are talking about her education, the fact that she was a public defender, the actual opinions she holds and I think that’s a real shame. The way the democratic party has spoken about her feels very token.

It feels like they made this decision only because elections are coming up, not because they recognize or believe that diversity is essential. While it’s a bit disappointing Judge Jacksons’s appointment is under these circumstances, I am just as excited to see her on the court as I was for Judge Barette.