Washington, DC (Feb. 25, 2022) – NACDL celebrates the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman Associate Justice to the Supreme Court. While this historic nomination will not immediately remedy the many profound disparities in the composition of our judiciary, Judge Brown Jackson will bring lived experience not only as a highly qualified trial and appellate judge, but also as a Black woman and as a former Assistant Federal Public Defender who has practiced in the trenches of the criminal legal system in the age of mass incarceration. NACDL commends the long-awaited and historic nomination of an attorney who, like the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, chose to defend the individual liberties and freedoms embedded in the Constitution. Having experienced the realities and brutalities of the criminal legal system, she is poised to give life to what otherwise would be abstract parchment principles.
Contacts
Jessie Diamond, Public Affairs & Communications Associate, (202) 465-7647 or jdiamond@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.