//

(Photo by Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images)

Not a single justice has been a Black woman. You, Judge Jackson, can be the first. It’s not easy being the first. You have to be the best and in some ways the brightest. Your presence here today and your willingness to brave this process will give inspiration to millions of women who see themselves in you.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-top-300x250" ); googletag.enableServices(); });

— Senator Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, commenting in his opening statement on the historic nature of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing. “With your presence here today, you are writing a new page in the American history book,” Senator Patrick Leahy later said.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Topics

Confirmation Hearings, Courts, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Quote of the Day, Supreme Court