1000+ Public Defenders Urge the Senate to Confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2021

CONTACT: [email protected]

1000+ PUBLIC DEFENDERS URGE THE SENATE TO CONFIRM KETANJI BROWN JACKSON

WASHINGTON, DC— More than 1000 current and former public defenders have sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging the Senate to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, as the first justice with public defense experience. The signers hail from all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Portions of the letter read: “Jackson’s professional diversity and unique perspective were important considerations for President Biden. … We agree that Judge Jackson’s firsthand experience as a public defender will be an incalculable asset to a Court that has lacked this critical perspective for too long. … Too often, past presidents have communicated through their Supreme Court nominations that in order to be appointed to the nation’s highest Court, a lawyer should spend his or her career working at a corporate law firm or as a prosecutor. … As public defenders, we share our excitement at seeing someone whose career reflects our own being elevated to the Supreme Court. We hold a steadfast commitment to the rule of law and defending constitutional rights for all, and we believe profoundly that criminal defense experience is sorely needed on the Court.”

The full text of the letter can be read here.

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