Ketanji Brown Jackson made history Thursday as the first black woman to be sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
Jackson, 51, succeeds Stephen Breyer(Stephen Breyer), who resigned from the Supreme Court effective Thursday at noon after nearly 28 years on the court.
President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to the Supreme Court after Breyer announced in January that he would resign at the end of the Supreme Court's 2021 term, which ended Thursday morning.
Jackson was sworn in during a brief ceremony at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. In the Constitutional Oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, Jackson solemnly swore to defend the Constitution "against all enemies foreign and domestic" and "with true faith and fidelity." Breyer took the second statutory oath, in which Jackson vowed to "do justice without respect for persons, and to provide equal rights to the poor and the rich."
Jackson was smiling throughout the ceremony, where she was joined by her husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson, and their two daughters, Thalia and Leila.
Roberts said the court will hold another formal inauguration ceremony, called an investiture ceremony, in the fall. But Thursday's oath allows Jackson to begin her work as the newest member of the nine-member high court.
Jackson, who previously served as a judge on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was confirmed by the Senate in April in a 53-47 vote. Three Republican senators joined Democrats in confirming her.
Jackson, like Breyer, is considered a liberal jurist. She joins Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, two other liberal members of the court.
The Supreme Court has a six-member conservative supermajority, including Roberts and former President Donald Trump (Donald Trump) Three appointees: Justices Neil Gorsuch , Brett Carter Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
Another conservative Justice, Justice Clarence Thomas, is the only other black person currently on the court. In 1991, Thomas succeeded Thurgood Marshall, the first black judge to serve on the court.
Jackson's elevation comes as public confidence in the Supreme Court plunges to historic lows after a controversial draft opinion on abortion was leaked in May.
According to a Gallup poll released on June 23, only 25% of U.S. adults said they were "very" or "extremely" confident in the courts.
This is 11 percentage points below the level of confidence expressed a year ago and 5 percentage points below the previous low in 2014.
The poll was released a day before the Supreme Court issued its final opinion, overturning its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, saying there was no federal constitutional right to abortion.
The new ruling allows states to enact their own abortion restrictions without fear of conflicting with the ruling in Roe v. Wade, which allowed to terminate pregnancies in most cases.
Trump’s appointment provides the votes needed to overturn the ruling in Roe v. Wade, along with Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion.
