Ketanji Brown Jackson Becomes First Black Woman to Serve as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Ketanji Brown Jackson has been sworn in as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Black woman to serve as a justice in the 232-year history of the Court.

In an historic ceremony at the Supreme Court shortly after the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer took effect at noon on June 30, 2022, Chief Justice John Roberts administered the Constitutional Oath to Justice Jackson (pictured). Justice Breyer, for whom Justice Jackson served as a law clerk during the Court’s 1999-2000 term, then administered the Judicial Oath.

Jackson, the 116th justice of the Court, was elevated to the Court by President Joe Biden from her position as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She is the first former federal public defender to serve on the Court and the first justice since Thurgood Marshall’s appointment in 1967 to have any significant experience representing indigent defendants in criminal cases.

In nominating Jackson, President Biden said, “For too long, our government, our courts haven’t looked like America. … I believe it’s time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications and that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level.” Jackson’s ascension to the Court marks the first time in its history that a majority of the justice are not White men.

“With a full heart, I accept the solemn responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States and administering justice without fear or favor, so help me God,” Jackson said. “I am truly grateful to be part of the promise of our great Nation.”

2022 DPIC Mid-Year Review: Geographic Isolation of Death Penalty Continues Amidst Eight-Year Trend of Minimal Use

At the halfway point of 2022, the United States is on pace to mark the eighth consecutive year with fewer than 30 execution and fewer than 50 new death sentences. But even as the death penalty declines, a few states have attempted to ramp up executions and the United States Supreme Court has continued to impede death-row prisoners’ access to the courts and impair judicial enforcement of defendants’ constitutional rights.

The low numbers of new death sentences imposed and executions carried out have come from a small number of jurisdictions that historically have been heavy users of capital punishment. As in past years, the few people executed have disproportionally been vulnerable defendants with mental illness, intellectual disability, innocence claims, and inadequate legal process. Problems with lethal injection continued to mar the execution process.

DPIC’s monitoring of media coverage of capital trials has identified at least seven new death sentences that were imposed in five states from January through June 2022. That pace remained near the record low 18 new death sentences imposed during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. Five of the seven defendants sentenced to death are defendants of color: three are Black and two are Latinx.

Likewise, seven people were executed in five states between January and June 2022. At least five of the prisoners who were executed had evidence of one or more of the following significant impairments: serious mental illness; brain injury, developmental brain damage, or an IQ in the intellectually disabled range; and chronic serious childhood trauma, neglect, and/or abuse. The states that carried out executions — Alabama, Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas — are all among the eleven states with the most executions since 1972.

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