The US president holds his promise: during the presidential campaign, he had committed to appoint an African-American to the Supreme Court, institution that was composed exclusively of white men for nearly two centuries.
Le Monde with AP, AFP and Reuters
US President Joe Biden has appointed Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson at the Supreme Court of the United States. She will become the first black woman to sit there. The announcement of the appointment, delayed because of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, should trigger a battle for its confirmation within a very divided Senate. Mitch McConnell , The Leader of Republicans in the Senate, Who had tackled the confirmation of the appointment of Conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett, promised a “rigorous and exhaustive” process.
Previously judge at the US Court of Appeal for the Columbia District Circuit, Ketanji Brown Jackson will replace Liberal J. Stephen Breyer, named in 1994 by Bill Clinton, who announced retiring in January. The balance of the Supreme Court, six Conservatives for three Liberals, will remain unchanged by this appointment.
By naming it, the US president keeps his promise. During his campaign, the candidate Biden had committed, if the opportunity was offered to him, to designate an African-American to the Supreme Court, institution which was composed exclusively of white men for nearly two centuries. At age 51, Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the sixth woman to sit in the highest instance of the United States. Of the one hundred and fifteen people who sat at the Supreme Court, only two were black, and it was two men.
I’M Proud to Announce that I AM Nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Serve on The Supreme Court. Currently Ser … https://t.co/zbo258al3n//p>- potus (@President biden)
The Senate has already passed last year, to 53 votes to 44, to confirm the appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson as Judge at the US Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia, to which She had been appointed by the president. At the time, she had the support of three Republican senators, and had been interviewed, during her hearing, on the role played by race in her decisions. She had replied that she did not play any.
The Supreme Court, higher American judicial proceeding, whose primary mission is to ensure the constitutionality of the laws, plays a crucial role by cutting the important corporate debates in the United States. It is composed of nine judges, each designated for life by the American President with confirmation necessary by the Senate.
Before Mr. Biden, Donald Trump had the opportunity to appoint three judges to the Supreme Court, anchoring the proceeding in the conservatism possibly for several decades. Patients or ages, members of the Supreme Court can retire from 70 years, but they rarely do it.
Sitting in a building facing the Capitol, the Supreme Court plays a vital role in the development of jurisprudence. Its judgments establish the legal standard, especially on sensitive issues: abortion, homosexual marriage, racial discrimination, death penalty, electoral litigation, weapon port, etc. His judges benefit from an inamovability of fact and, pledge of their independence, of the same compensation guaranteed for life.