“For too long our government, our courts have not looked like America,” the president said at the White House as he introduced Jackson. “I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects all the talent and greatness of our nation with a candidate with extraordinary qualifications, and that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country in the highest level.”
Indeed, the symbolic value of Jackson’s nomination could not be clearer.
“It is so important to have this groundbreaking nomination of an African American woman who is so well qualified for the position because her nomination will affirm the values of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” said Tomiko Brown-Nagin. , dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studying at Harvard University, told CNN. “Equal opportunity in the workplace, regardless of race, gender and origin, is something to be very happy about.”
Brown-Nagin also enshrined Jackson in a much larger story of firsts.
Of the. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a nonvoting member of the United States House from DC, in 2012 recommended that President Barack Obama appoint Jackson to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Obama listened to Norton and helped prepare Jackson for that moment a decade later. Norton pointed out that injecting more diversity into the justice system would bolster its legitimacy in the eyes of some Americans.
“(Jackson’s) visibility in the country as a black woman would translate into greater confidence in the justice system itself,” Norton said.
“We need a voice on the Supreme Court that can weigh in on opinions from the perspective of those who have been deeply marginalized,” Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown told CNN. “And I think in order to be a public defender…she chose to do it. She didn’t have to. That (choice) tells me something about her conscience that every person deserves to have access to justice. “
“If there’s a moment we needed (this choice), it’s now, when we see that the Supreme Court in many ways has decimated, undermined and gutted the Voting Rights Act,” a- she declared.
Brown-Nagin also pointed to the breadth of Jackson’s track record as a public defender.
“She has extensive and relevant legal experience, including in the criminal justice system. If confirmed in court, there will be for the first time since Thurgood Marshall a judge with significant experience representing defendants,” said Brown-Nagin, pointing to the late judge who was the first black to serve on the Supreme Court. “Ultimately, public defenders, which is the role Jackson played for a few years, are an integral part of our legal system, ensuring due process and the right to counsel for defendants protected by the Bill of Rights. the Constitution.”
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