Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in Thursday as the first Black female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, succeeding the retiring Stephen Breyer as a transformational term comes to a close.
Jackson was confirmed to replace Breyer in April but then had to wait until he stepped down at the end of the nine-month term, which included the blockbuster ruling eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. Breyer said in a letter to President Joe Biden that his confirmation would become effective June 30.
Jackson will take her two required oaths at noon at the Supreme Court before a small gathering that will include her family, the court said in a press release. Breyer, for whom Jackson once served as a law clerk, will administer an oath required under federal law. Chief Justice John Roberts will administer an oath mandated under the Constitution.
The ceremony was streamed live on the Supreme Court’s website.
Jackson, 51, is likely to maintain the ideological balance on the conservative-controlled high court and join fellow Democratic appointees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in the liberal wing.
