April 07, 2022 | News

A Historic Day for Ketanji Brown Jackson and the People of the United States

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pride that I witness and celebrate today the United State Senate’s bi-partisan confirmation of Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court. Judge Jackson has demonstrated over her distinguished legal career that she is one of the most accomplished and qualified individuals to be nominated to the Supreme Court. Our nation and the Supreme Court have had to wait for this extraordinary woman at this remarkable moment for over 233 years.

In 1999 Lawyers For One America was established to advocate for and actively promote nationwide greater racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession so that our law schools, judicial systems, and lawyers more accurately reflect the communities they serve.

After collaborating with the legal profession on how to realize our mission, LFOA issued in 2000 a Report entitled “Bar None: Report to the President of the United States on the Status of People of Color and Pro Bono Services in the Legal Profession”. The Report made 28 formal Recommendations to the legal profession. The Recommendation that is most relevant to today’s confirmation of Judge Jackson is Recommendation 6 that recommended

“that state and federal judges, including the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, increase the number of persons of color serving as judicial clerks, to more accurately reflect the communities they serve.”

Judge Jackson clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer from 1999 to 2000, exactly when LFOA was considering recommendations that would eventually change the landscape of the Supreme Court forever.

We did not think to dream, let alone recommend, that an African-American Woman be appointed to serve as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. We are eternally thankful that President Biden was bold enough to not only dream but to promise and keep his promise that an African-American Woman would serve as a Justice on the Supreme Court.

I could feel the warmth and joy in Vice President Kamala Harris when she announced today the bi-partisan vote of the Senate to confirm Judge Jackson.

I now wait for the historic day later this summer when Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson is sworn in as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Please celebrate with me in the knowledge that you and I are alive to bear witness to this amazing event today.

Teveia Rose Barnes