Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was officially sworn into the Supreme Court Thursday, becoming the first Black woman to serve in the country’s highest court.

Jackson is now the 104th Supreme Court Associate Justice in U.S. history, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. administering the Constitutional Oath and Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer administering the Judicial Oath at the Supreme Court’s West Conference Room.

“As all the members in the court, I am pleased to welcome Justice Jackson to the court and to our common calling,” Justice Roberts said during after Brown took her oath.

Jackson replaced Justice Stephen Breyer, who retired after serving with the court for 27 years.

“This past January, I wrote to inform you of my intent to retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United states, upon the Court rising from its summer recess,” Breyer wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden Thursday. “It has been my great honor to participate as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the Rule of Law.”

Jackson, 51, is also now the second-youngest court member, behind only Amy Coney Barrett, 50, who was selected to the Supreme Court in 2020 by former President Donald Trump.

When the U.S. Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Brown in April, she received full support from Democrat senators and three additional “yes” votes from Republican senators, with the rest of the party voting against her confirmation.

“I’m thrilled to see Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in today as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court! As a former public defender, she’ll bring an invaluable perspective to the bench,” U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said Thursday. “I also want to thank Justice Breyer for his extraordinary public service.”

 

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