Kitangi Brown Jackson became the first black woman in American history to be sworn in as a US Supreme Court justice. Jackson was sworn in on Thursday in the nation’s Supreme Court. The 51-year-old succeeds longtime Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who officially retired on Thursday.
The 83-year-old Breyer had already announced at the beginning of the year that he would retire this summer after nearly three decades in court. For the first time in his term, US President Joe Biden has been given the opportunity to fill one of the nine justices’ positions on the Supreme Court. The judges are appointed there for life and must be ratified by the Senate in a complex procedure. Jackson cleared that hurdle in early April.
The personnel change will not change anything about the conservative majority in the US Supreme Court. Both Breyer and Jackson belong to the liberal camp. Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, was able to appoint three justices to the Supreme Court during his term, thus moving the court to the right in the long run. Six of the nine judges are currently considered conservatives.
The neo-conservative force was particularly evident last week when the court overturned a landmark 1973 ruling that had guaranteed abortion rights in the United States for nearly 50 years. (apa/dpa)
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