Judiciary Committee Approves Norton’s Judicial Recommendation, the First African American Woman Nominee in a Generation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved her recommendation, Ketanji Brown Jackson, to become a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Norton, using the senatorial courtesy granted to her by President Obama, recommended Jackson to the President for this position. The President accepted the Congresswoman's recommendation and nominated her near the end of the last Congress and quickly renominated her at the start of the 113th Congress. Jackson is currently vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and if confirmed, would be the first African American woman appointed to the district court in D.C. in 32 years, the second in the history to serve on that court, and the only one currently on the bench. "It's happenstance, but I am thrilled that the committee has approved this nomination during Black History Month," Norton said. "Ketanji Brown Jackson will be easily confirmed by the full Senate not because of the history her nomination is making but because her rich background and extensive legal experience will surely be an asset to the bench."
President Obama, like President Clinton, granted Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend candidates for federal district court judges and other important federal law enforcement positions in the District. The Congresswoman recommended Jackson out of a number of candidates screened by her 17-person Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, which is chaired by Pauline Schneider, a former chair of the D.C. Bar, and a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
Published: February 14, 2013