A historic day in the United States. For the first time, a black woman will sit on the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country. The nomination of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has been confirmed by the Senate.
With our correspondent in Washington, Guillaume Naudin
“ On this vote, there are 53 yeses. There are 47 no and this nomination is confirmed “. It is Kamala Harris, the first black American woman to have acceded to the vice-presidency who is pleased, as session chair, to announce the result of this historic vote and to trigger thunderous applause.
This means that as expected, all Democrats voted for Ketanji Brown Jackson, but also that three Republicans crossed the deep divide in the Senate and also voted in his favour, such as African-American Senator from Georgia Raphael Warnock.
” No one will steal my joy. I know what it means, for Judge Jackson to have navigated through the twin threats of racism and sexism to find herself in the glory of this moment, in all her excellence. Seeing Justice Jackson rise to the Supreme Court reflects the promise of progress on which our democracy is built “.
It will therefore have been necessary to wait for the 116th appointment in the 233-year history of the Supreme Court for an African-American to enter. To achieve this, Ketanji Brown Jackson had to follow an exemplary course. At 51, she was both a public sector lawyer and a respected federal judge in one of the most prestigious courts in the country, in Washington, all after brilliant studies in law at Harvard, one of the best american universities.
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The vote, Ketanji Brown Jackson attended at the White House. The presidency released photos of her with President Joe Biden who chose her to replace Steven Breyer, another liberal-leaning judge who will retire in the summer. Ketanji Brown Jackson will speak this Friday, still at the White House, along with the president and the first black vice-president Kamala Harris. It was she who presided over this historic vote. But already, the Democrats welcome this result. For them, from now on, the Supreme Court will look more like the United States.
On the other hand, the most radical Republican senators made a promise. If their side wins a majority in the upcoming midterm elections, they’ll never pass up a nominee like that. Like that, that is, like Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom they consider to be the most left-wing justice in the history of the Supreme Court.
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This is a victory for President Biden, it was a campaign promise. It is also a historic event because it is the first African-American woman to reach the Supreme Court, so it is one more glass ceiling that is broken and symbolically, another step for equality in the States -United.
Simon Grivet, historian and lecturer at the University of Lille