Biden nominates first black woman to US Supreme Court

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden has nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, elevating a well-regarded federal appeals court judge who, if confirmed, would make history by becoming the first black woman to serve as a justice.

Mr Biden's decision, made after a month-long search, fulfilled a presidential campaign vow to nominate a black woman to the bench and set in motion a confirmation battle that will play out in an evenly divided Senate.

He announced the nomination on Friday at the White House, flanked by Ms Jackson and Ms Kamala Harris, the first black woman to be elected US vice-president, whom he praised as someone who helped him make his decision.

"For too long our government, our courts haven't looked like America," Mr Biden said in remarks delivered two years to the day after he made his campaign promise.

"I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation."

In Ms Jackson, 51, Mr Biden selected a liberal-leaning jurist who earned a measure of Republican support when he nominated her to the influential federal appeals court in Washington in the summer - an accomplishment the President took pains to emphasise during his remarks.

If confirmed by the Senate, she will replace Justice Stephen Breyer, the senior member of the court's three-member liberal wing, who announced last month that he would retire at the end of the current court term this summer if his successor was in place.

Mr Biden pointed out that Ms Jackson, a former clerk for Mr Breyer, was a jurist whose legal approach was informed by the justice she has been nominated to replace.

While her confirmation would not change the court's ideological balance - conservatives appointed by Republicans will retain their 6-3 majority - it would achieve another first: all three justices appointed by Democratic presidents would be women.

"If I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed as the next associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States," Ms Jackson said, "I can only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the Constitution, and my commitment to upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded will inspire future generations of Americans."

NYTIMES