Justice Jackson? Biden’s Likely Supreme Court Nominee - gets it

By Ronald W. Chapman II, Esq. LL.M.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Recently appointed and confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a 53-44 vote, Ketanji Brown Jackson seems to have been specifically selected to ascend to a Supreme Court seat in place of Justice Breyer who announced his retirement. Who knew an ascension could happen so quickly. She’s President Biden’s lead pick and given that she has already been confirmed three times - twice unanimously - Republican detractors may be left without an argument in opposition.

Confirmed only a few months ago on June 14th, 2021, Judge Jackson may be the first black female justice in Supreme Court history. Judge Jackson, who previously clerked for Justice Breyer during the Supreme Court’s 1999-2000 term was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated from both Harvard College and Law School. But her legal experience is what should interest federal criminal defense attorneys the most.

She worked on the United States Sentencing Commission from 2005 to 2007 and likely dealt with the fallout of the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Booker which made sentencing guidelines advisory. In addition, she spent eight and a half years on the Federal District Court bench and handled a number of challenges to executive agency actions dealing with complex administrative law issues.

Her early experience is equally compelling. She has written and presented extensively on topics of overcriminalization, sentencing policy related to drug offenses, pre-sentence reports and departure in federal sentencing. She also appears to have an interest in rehabilitation of federal defendants.

Judge Jackson’s federal service appears to be at least motivated in part by the severe drug sentence handed to her uncle who was sentenced to life in prison for a cocaine conviction in the 1980’s. She grew up watching her father practice law, excelled in the Miami school system and found her way to Harvard College and Law School. She worked in the federal public defender’s office and defended indigent defendants and knows full well the imbalance of federal resources earmarked for criminal defense.

While her record in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is short (read “nonexistent”) her lengthily district court record allows us to catch a glimpse of her leanings which appear to be mostly liberal on social issues and pragmatic on criminal justice related issues. She is widely known by advocates to have a high command of the facts and issues in a case pending before her - especially when it relates to sentencing issues and criminal justice issues.

The media elite will likely point to her notable decisions related to Trump - but this misses the point and unnecessarily politicizes this important nomination. Judge Jackson’s experience shows that she is exactly what we need to provide a powerful voice of the accused on the court.

Potential Impact on the Court

Judge Jackson appears poised to tailor back “qualified immunity” of police offers, ruling in Patterson v. United States that a police officer should be denied qualified immunity for arresting a protestor after he used “profanity”. She appears poised to enhance protections afforded to indigent federal defendants having fought in the “trenches” with the federal public defender’s office. In all, her experience on criminal justice related issues and likely distain for heavy handed sentencing schemes of the 1990’s makes her a pragmatic choice to roll back punitive forms of justice and instill equality and balance in the modern court.

Heck, she may even take a run at the death penalty.