Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
(Picture: PA)The Duchess of Sussex has celebrated Joe Biden’s choice of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first black woman to serve on the US Supreme Court.
Meghan spoke to Anita Hill for URL media about the nomination of Judge Jackson, 51, described by the president as “one of our nation’s brightest legal minds”.
The Duchess, who lives in California with husband Prince Harry, said: “The civil rights history of tomorrow is being written today.
“Judge Jackson’s nomination has opened new ground for women’s representation at the highest level of a judicial system that for too long has tilted against the very community she hails from.
“For the millions of young women who will rightfully find inspiration from this moment, let’s remind ourselves that Black achievement is something that exists not just today or yesterday, and not just in moments of celebration, but as a fabric woven into the entire chronicle of the American story.”
Professor Ms Hill said the pair had recently connected and there was “a measure of parallelism” given Meghan and Ms Jackson’s shared experience navigating uncharted territory as black women.
Ms Jackson, a former public defender in Washington, accepted Mr Biden’s offer to fill the seat left vacant by the forthcoming retirement of the liberal Justice Stephen Breyer.
Her nomination comes at a highly significant period in the court’s 232- year history as it faces critical rulings on issues including abortion, gun rights and religious liberties.
Ms Jackson will not change the court’s balance, where conservatives hold a super-majority following two appointments by Donald Trump.
If confirmed by the US Senate, she will become the first black woman to serve on a court that in 1857 ruled that people of African descent could not be deemed US citizens and in 1896 upheld racial segregation laws.
