Harris says Ketanji Brown Jackson ‘stands on the shoulders of giants’

Vice President Kamala Harris praised Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during remarks in Selma, Ala. on Sunday commemorating the 57th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” saying the Black judge “stands on the shoulders of giants.”

Brown Jackson would be the first Black, female nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“I’ll tell you what I think you know. Judge Jackson is a phenomenal jurist,” said Harris, the first Black woman to be vice president, noting that Jackson’s record “proves her commitment not only to public service but to equal justice and equal rights.”

“As she makes history, Judge Jackson, like us all, stands on the shoulders of giants. She and we are their legacy,” Harris added in a nod to civil rights leaders who crossed Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma fighting for their rights. Police and civilians attacked the unarmed marchers with clubs and tear gas. 

Jackson has begun meeting with Senate leaders and members of both parties in preparation for her confirmation hearings, which are scheduled to begin the week of March 21.

Though some Republican groups have portrayed Jackson as a favorite of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, three Republicans — Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Susan Collins (Maine) — voted to confirm her to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last year.

Jackson’s nomination came after Biden pledged that he would nominate a Black woman to fill the position vacated by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. 

“The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court,” Biden said at the time, ahead of selecting Jackson.

Black leaders and civil rights groups celebrated Jackson’s nomination as a historic moment for the country. 

Jackson, a former Breyer clerk, would round out the court’s liberal wing, which also includes Sonia Sotomayor, 67, and Elena Kagan, 61. At 51, she would also bring youth, diversity and likely a more liberal outlook than the 83-year-old Breyer, known for his judicial modesty and pragmatism.

“If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the next associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, I can only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the Constitution, and my commitment to upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded will inspire future generations of Americans,” Jackson said upon being introduced as Biden’s nominee.