US Senate confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson as first Black female high court justice

The Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday, making her the first Black female justice.

The 51-year-old appeals court judge, who boasts nine years of experience on the federal bench, was confirmed by 53 votes to 47, mostly along party lines but with three Republican votes too.

Presiding over the vote was Vice President Kamala Harris, also the first Black woman to reach that high office.

Ms Jackson joined Biden at the White House to watch the vote, embracing as it came in.

During the four days of Senate hearings last month, Jackson spoke of her parents' struggles through racial segregation and said her "path was clearer" than theirs as a Black American after the enactment of civil rights laws.

Having attended Harvard University, she served as a public defender, worked at a private law firm and was appointed as a member of the US Sentencing Commission.

She told senators she would apply the law "without fear or favour," and pushed back on Republican attempts to portray her as too lenient on criminals she had sentenced.

Jackson will be just the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the sixth woman.

She will join three other women, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett – meaning that four of the nine justices will be women for the first time in history.

Her appointment will secure a legacy on the court for the president and fulfil his 2020 campaign pledge to nominate the first Black female justice.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote that Jackson's confirmation would be a "joyous day - joyous for the Senate, joyous for the Supreme Court, joyous for America."

President Biden had that he wanted support from both parties for his history-making nominee, and he invited Republicans to the White House as he made his decision.

Once sworn in, Jackson will be the second youngest member of the court after Barrett, 50. She will join a court on which no one is yet 75, the first time that has happened in nearly 30 years.

Jackson's first term will be marked by cases involving race, both in college admissions and voting rights.