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Ketanji Brown Jackson has been making waves in social media after she was announced as President Biden’s leading pick for a Supreme Court nominee. If confirmed, Jackson will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, fulfilling Biden’s campaign promise. Here are three things to know about the possible new Supreme Court Justice.

  2. 1. She would make history as the first Black woman AND first public defender in Supreme Court history.

Among the current Justices, none have a background in public defense. Jackson would be the first Justice to have experience defending criminal defendants, which is powerful in itself considering the court holds criminal defendants lives in their hands.

2. Jackson attended Harvard University and graduated as magna cum laude in 1992. She then went on to attend Harvard Law School and graduated with cum laude honors in 1996. She was also an editor in the Harvard Law Review.

3. Jackson is married to a surgeon, Patrick Jackson whom she has two daughters with. Both of her parents attended HBCUs and have a background in public service. Her mother became a principal at a magnet public school, and her father became one of the top attorneys for the Date County School Board.

4. When asked about how race plays a role in her decisions, she had this to say:

“I’m doing a certain thing when I get my cases. I’m looking at the arguments, the facts and the law. I’m methodically and intentionally setting aside personal views, any other inappropriate considerations, and I would think that race would be the kind of thing that would be inappropriate to inject into my evaluation of a case.”

She has though, acknowledged how being a Black woman shapes the way she views the world.

“I’ve experienced life in perhaps a different way than some of my colleagues because of who I am, and that might be valuable — I hope it would be valuable — if I was confirmed to the court.”