OPINION: Alaska’s senators should vote to confirm Ketanji Jackson to the Supreme Court

Since ratification of the U.S. Constitution, 115 justices have served on the Supreme Court, and not a single one has been a Black woman. President Joe Biden has nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court justice, and Alaska’s U.S. senators should vote to confirm her. She has a distinguished record as a lawyer and a judge, and as the first Black woman justice, would help ensure the court represents the full range of American experience.

Given the incredible weight of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, there should be a high bar for confirming justices. Nominees should have exemplary judicial experience, and should reflect high moral standards. Among the nine justices, diverse backgrounds and experience are important to ensure that real-world experience informs decisions that affect millions of Americans.

Although recent Supreme Court confirmation battles have been dominated by partisan overtones, decisions on confirmation should be made based on the merits of the nominees. The first test is whether a given nominee has sufficient legal experience that our delegation could have faith in her qualifications as a jurist. With respect to experience and qualifications, Judge Ketanji Brown’s record is distinguished an unimpeachable. She excelled in public schools, graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She served as a clerk to the U.S. Supreme Court after law school, the most prestigious and selective job for young lawyers. She later served as a public defender and vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an appointment to which she was confirmed with bipartisan support. She was promoted to be a member of the U.S. District Court in 2012, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2021, winning bipartisan support for both of these extremely high-level appointments.

In addition to judicial experience, it is important that Supreme Court nominees are of high moral character and embody ideals in the U.S. Constitution that they are charged with understanding and defending in their judicial decisions. Judge Jackson grew up in Miami, Florida, as a child of parents working in the public school systems. Her parents grew up in segregated schools, and she grew up in a public school system that gave her a chance to excel: She has experienced firsthand the power of equal opportunity. Her brother served in Iraq and Egypt as a servicemember in the U.S. Army, and as a police officer in Baltimore: For her family, service is important, and she sees through a very personal lens what it means to put oneself in harm’s way for others’ safety. As a public defender, she worked in the criminal justice system, and understands how important it is to protect civil liberties and protect public safety. Her entire career has been devoted to the ideals we find articulated in the U.S. Constitution.

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It is not unusual for Harvard lawyers with distinguished judicial experience to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is unusual for a Black woman to be nominated, but it is also appropriate and necessary. Our personal experiences absolutely inform how we see the world, as well as the government of which we are a part. A mere nine people on the U.S. Supreme Court make decisions with profound effects on our health, our reproductive decisions, our ability to earn an income and support ourselves, our ability to be safe in our homes and our neighborhoods. It is essential that among those nine justices, there is personal experience to understand the real impact of judicial decisions that might otherwise seem abstract.

These decisions are not abstract, and in fact they are life-or-death decisions when it comes to public safety, health care. For kids, Supreme Court decisions on economics can mean the difference between whether a working mom can pay the rent and keep her family housed. This court desperately needs people who understand these realities, who has lived experience as a working-class person. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has among the most distinguished legal records in the United States, but she comes from a humble background and her work makes clear she’s never forgotten where we came from. We need that perspective on the court.

Power in Washington, D.C., is evenly divided right now. Our senators have the power, in effect, to confirm Judge Jackson. They should make the right choice and vote to confirm Judge Jackson, reflecting on the incredible diversity within our state, and how diverse, working-class voters should have judges on the highest court who understand the realities we face every day.

Kevin McGee is president of the Anchorage Branch of the NAACP.

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