Ketanji Brown Jackson To Officially Join Supreme Court Tomorrow

The Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson era on the Supreme Court officially begins tomorrow.

Justice Stephen R. Breyer, whose seat Jackson was confirmed to fill in a historic vote on April 7, has notified the White House that his retirement will take effect Thursday at noon, CNN reported. His announcement finally puts an immediate start date on Jackson’s term as the Court’s first Black woman justice.

The move wasn’t unexpected, as it was Breyer’s planned retirement that paved the way for President Joe Biden to nominate Jackson to the Court early this year. She’ll take her seat on a Court dominated by a supermajority of young, conservative justices which in the course of its most recent term delivered majority opinions that could shape American society for decades.

The Court’s recent rulings that rescinded a national right of women to have an abortion, stripped accountability from police officers who fail to inform arrestees of their legal rights and sided with a high school football coach who conducted prayers on a public school field and gutted gun control efforts in New York State and elsewhere, are a lurch to the far right for the country and are likely to have a disproportionate impact on women and Black Americans.

Likewise, as the court’s first Black woman, Jackson’s voice on the bench during oral arguments and behind-the-scenes deliberations promises to have an impact on debates among the nine most important judges in the country. Court watchers, especially those with a keen interest in civil and women’s rights, will pay close attention when her first written opinions—whether on behalf of the dissenters, a concurrence with a majority or writing the lead opinion for the court’s majority.

But it could be some time before that last possibility becomes reality. Jackson’s replacement of Breyer won’t shift the Court’s 6-3 conservative majority—even accounting for Chief Justice John Roberts’ more moderate than expected opinions.