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| Photo Credit: AP. |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made her first appearance on the Supreme Court bench in a brief courtroom ceremony Friday, three days before the start of the high court’s new term.
President
Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses attended the
invitation-only ceremonial investiture for Jackson, the first Black woman on
the Supreme Court.
Chief
Justice John Roberts wished the 52-year-old Jackson a “long and happy career in
our common calling,” the traditional welcome for a new justice.
She took her
place at the far end of the bench to Roberts’ left, just next to Justice Brett
Kavanaugh. The justices are seated by seniority.
During the
ceremony Jackson also followed the custom of every other new justice since 1972
and sat in a chair that once belonged to John Marshall, who served as chief
justice for 34 years in the early 1800s.
Marshall
also was a slaveholder, perhaps adding a special poignancy to Jackson taking
her place in his onetime possession. She is only the third Black justice in the
court’s history, along with her new colleague Justice Clarence Thomas and the late
Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Friday’s
ceremony included the reading of the commission appointing Jackson to the
court. She also repeated the oath she took when she formally joined the court
in June, just after the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.
Breyer was
among a courtroom filled with dignitaries, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and former Speaker Paul Ryan, a Jackson relative through marriage.
Jackson’s
parents, daughters, brother and in-laws had a front-row seat.
Several
wives of current and former justices also attended, including Virginia “Ginni”
Thomas. Thomas was interviewed Thursday by the House committee investigating the
Jan. 6 insurrection.
Jackson was
confirmed in April on a 53-47 vote in the Senate, with three Republican
senators joining all Democrats to support her.
Biden had
pledged during his presidential campaign that he would nominate a Black woman
to the Supreme Court.
Biden,
Harris, first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff spent a few
minutes with the justices before the court convened, court spokeswoman Patricia
McCabe said.
The
president said nothing during the five-minute, tightly scripted courtroom
ceremony.
Back at the
White House, Biden tweeted in praise of Jackson’s “brilliant legal mind” and
touted his record on filling judgeships.
“In fact,
we’ve appointed 84 federal judges so far. No group of that many judges has been
appointed as quickly, or been that diverse,” Biden said.
Jackson and
Roberts walked down the 36 front steps of the court for photos following the
ceremony. They chatted briefly on the court plaza, and when Roberts departed,
the justice’s husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson, joined her.
“I’m so
proud of you,” Dr. Jackson said, as they embraced in front of a gathering of
reporters and well-wishers.
Jackson is
the first justice appointed by a Democratic president since Justice Elena Kagan
joined the court in 2010. Kagan was appointed by former President Barack Obama,
who also appointed Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009.
It appeared
Obama would get a third high court pick when Justice Antonin Scalia died in
February 2016. But Senate Republicans refused to take up Obama’s nomination of
Merrick Garland, then serving as a federal appeals court judge. Garland, now
Attorney General, also participated in Friday’s ceremony.
Former
President Donald Trump eventually chose Justice Neil Gorsuch, the first of his
three Supreme Court appointees, to fill Scalia’s seat.
Associated
Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.