Ketanji Brown Jackson
Credit: US District Court for the District of Columbia

February is Black History Month, an annual observance of the achievements and culture of Black Americans. This month, Behind the Headlines will feature Black pioneers in a variety of areas.

As the first Black woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson has an impressive career. She was appointed an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 2022. President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer. A mother, reporter, lawyer, and judge, Jackson is a role model for many people.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson signs an oath of office on June 30, 2022, as she is sworn in as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Credit: US Supreme Court

Ketanji Onyika Brown was born on Sept. 14, 1970, in Washington, D.C. Her family later relocated to Miami, Florida. Brown studied at Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in government in 1992. She worked as a reporter and researcher for Time magazine from 1992 to 1993.

Brown attended Harvard Law School, where she worked as an editor at the Harvard Law Review. She graduated from law school in 1996. That same year, she married the American surgeon Patrick Jackson. The couple shares two daughters.

From 1996 to 1998, Ketanji Jackson served as a law clerk first in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and then in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. In 1999, she served as a law clerk to Justice Breyer. Jackson worked as an associate at several law firms and as a federal assistant public defender.

In 2010, Jackson became a vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, having been nominated to that position by President Barack Obama. On the commission, Jackson worked to reduce federal sentences for certain charges.

In 2012, Obama nominated Jackson to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a position she held from 2013 to 2021. In 2021, Biden appointed Jackson to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Ketanji Brown Jackson
Credit: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Today, on April 7, 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Jackson became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 2022. President Joe Biden appointed Jackson to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.

Ketanji Onyika Brown was born on Sept. 14, 1970, in Washington, D.C. Brown’s family later relocated to Miami, Florida. Brown studied at Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in government in 1992. She worked as a reporter and researcher for Time magazine from 1992 to 1993. Brown attended Harvard Law School, where she worked as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She graduated from law school in 1996. The same year, she married the American surgeon Patrick Jackson.

From 1996 to 1998, Jackson served as a law clerk in the United States District Court of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. In 1999, she served as a law clerk to Justice Breyer. Jackson worked as an associate at several law firms and as a federal assistant public defender. In 2010, Jackson served as the vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, having been nominated to that position by President Barack Obama. On the commission, Jackson worked to decrease federal sentencing for certain charges. In 2012, Obama nominated Jackson to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, a position she held from 2013 to 2021. In 2021, Biden nominated Jackson to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit.

The flag-draped casket of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in state inside Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2020.
Credit: © Erin Schaff, POOL/AFP/Getty Images

On Friday, the late Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, with her casket on display in Statuary Hall. Ginsburg is also the first Jewish person to lie in state. To lie in state is a great honor, reserved for the country’s most distinguished citizens.

The tradition dates back to 1852, when the American statesman Henry Clay became the first person to receive the honor. Other people to lie in state include judges, military leaders, representatives, senators, and presidents. Aside from lying in state—as Ginsburg is—honorees can lie in honor or lie in repose. The Black civil rights activist Rosa Parks, for example, lay in honor following her death in 2005. Ginsburg will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, one of the largest and most famous cemeteries in the United States.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020), associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Credit: Supreme Court of the United States

Ginsburg, a legal and feminist icon, died on Friday, September 18, at the age of 87. Ginsburg served on the Supreme Court from 1993 to 2020. As a Supreme Court justice, she provided a steady liberal voice and was a passionate supporter of women’s rights.

Ginsberg was the second woman to serve on the court. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first in 1981. President Bill Clinton appointed Ginsburg to the court to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Byron R. White.

Ruth Bader was born on March 15, 1933, in New York City. She graduated from Cornell University in 1954. She married Martin D. Ginsburg, who also became a lawyer, later that year. She earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1959.

Ginsburg taught law at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, from 1963 to 1972 and at Columbia University from 1972 to 1980. During the 1970′s, Ginsburg served as general counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that works for citizens’ rights. In this position, she argued before the Supreme Court and won many cases involving equality between the sexes. She actively supported women’s rights.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. During her years as a member of this court, she became known for working to bring about agreement between her liberal and conservative colleagues.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020), associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Credit: Supreme Court of the United States

The world lost a legal and feminist icon on Friday, September 18, with the death of the associate justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the age of 87. Ginsburg served on the Supreme Court from 1993 to 2020. As a Supreme Court justice, she provided a steady liberal voice and was a passionate supporter of women’s rights.

Ginsberg was the second woman to serve on the court. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first in 1981. President Bill Clinton appointed Ginsburg to the court to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Byron R. White.

Ruth Bader was born on March 15, 1933, in New York City. She graduated from Cornell University in 1954. She married Martin D. Ginsburg, who also became a lawyer, later that year. She earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1959.

Ginsburg taught law at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, from 1963 to 1972 and at Columbia University from 1972 to 1980. During the 1970′s, Ginsburg served as general counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that works for citizens’ rights. In this position, she argued before the Supreme Court and won many cases involving equality between the sexes. She actively supported women’s rights.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. During her years as a member of this court, she became known for working to bring about agreement between her liberal and conservative colleagues.

March 1, 2018

World Book kicks off March’s Women’s History Month with a profile of Brenda Hale, a British judge who is the president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Hale has served on the Supreme Court since 2009. She became the first woman president of the court in October 2017.

Brenda Hale became president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October 2017. Credit: Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for civil cases in the United Kingdom, and for criminal cases in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The court has a president, a deputy president, and 10 permanent judges. The British monarch appoints Supreme Court judges with the recommendation of the prime minister and the Judicial Appointments Commission.

Women’s History Month is celebrated each March. This year’s theme, selected by the National Women’s History Project, is “Nevertheless she persisted: honoring all women who fight forms of discrimination against women.” Credit: © National Women’s History Project

Hale was born on Jan. 31, 1945, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, in northern England. She graduated from the Richmond High School for Girls before studying law at Girton College, Cambridge. Hale joined the University of Manchester law faculty in 1966, and she was called to the bar (qualified as a lawyer) in 1969. Hale taught at Manchester until 1984, when she became the first woman appointed to the Law Commission, a body that reviews laws in England and Wales. In 1994, Hale became a judge of the family division of the High Court of Justice (the United Kingdom’s main civil court). In 1999, she was appointed to the Court of Appeal.

Hale was made a life peer as Baroness Hale of Richmond in 2004 as she became the first woman Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as a law lord. At that time, the House of Lords functioned as the highest court of appeal in the United Kingdom, except for criminal cases in Scotland. In 2009, a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom took over the judicial functions previously held by the House of Lords. The sitting law lords—including Judge Hale—then became the first justices of the Supreme Court. Hale served as deputy president of the Supreme Court from 2013 to 2017.