Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first black female Supreme Court justice

Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in Thursday to the Supreme Court by Justice Stephen Breyer, whose seat she is taking with his retirement from the bench.

Brown recited the Judicial Oath back to Jackson as he officially became a retired justice and she took her post following her confirmation earlier this year.

Jackson makes history with the ceremony Thursday as the first black female to serve as a Supreme Court Justice.

‘On behalf of all of the members of the Court I am pleased to welcome Justice Jackson to the Court and to our common calling,’ conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said once the new justices completed her oath and shook Breyer’s hand.

Retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (right) administered the Judicial Oath to his replacement Ketanji Jackson Brown (left) on Thursday

Breyer’s final term before handing his spot over to Jackson saw several controversial decisions with the recent 6-3 conservative majority following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The consequential term saw the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade overturned, which eliminated federal protections for a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy and instead sent the issue back to the states.

President Joe Biden nominated Jackson after Breyer announced his retirement in January 2022.

The justices gathered Thursday for the swearing-in ceremony after their final two opinions of the term were issued on Thursday – including one that upheld Biden’s move to terminate the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).

The other opinion was a 6 to 3 decision that restrains the federal government’s ability to regulate emissions at power plants.

The case declares it unlawful for federal agencies to make ‘major’ decisions without clear authorization from Congress.

‘Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day,’ Roberts wrote in his opinion for the court.

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Biden nominated Jackson to replace Stephen Breyer after he announced his retirement in January 2022. Jackson was confirmed in a Senate vote of 53-47 on April 7 to become the 116th Supreme Court justice

The court’s liberals, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.

Jackson’s confirmation hearing was contentious – as have been the last several confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees under President Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Biden.

At the helm of the controversy over Jackson’s confirmation was Republicans claiming that her record has shown her going entirely too easy on sentencing for child pornography offenders.

They claim that during her time as a judge on lower courts she went against the recommended sentencing to lower the punishment for offenders of viewers and distributors of child porn.

Spearheads of these claims were Senate Judiciary Republicans Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Ted Cruz of Texas.

In early April of this year, Jackson was confirmed in a Senate vote of 53-47 to become the 116th justice for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Three moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine,Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah broke with their party to vote with Democrats for her confirmation.