Anita Hill: Jackson Court Pick Shows Struggles ‘Not In Vain’

(Bloomberg) -- The nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court drew support on Monday from Anita Hill and Meghan Markle, who highlighted in an essay written by Hill the significance of choosing a Black woman for the highest court in the U.S.

Hill wrote in URL Media about how she felt after President Joe Biden held an event last week announcing Jackson's selection, fulfilling a campaign promise to diversify the court through his appointments.

“The president had pledged to name a Black woman to the Court,” Hill wrote. “But I could not be certain that this barrier would be overcome — until it was. And after the press conference ended, I sat up straighter and felt grateful to have witnessed another glass ceiling that was shattered in my lifetime.”

Ninety-six percent of the justices who have served on the Supreme Court have been men, and an even greater share, 98%, have been White. If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman to serve on the court. She is one of seven women who have ever been nominated for a seat, and one of only three Black people.

In a speech delivered Friday, Jackson said she hoped her “life and career, my love of this country and the Constitution, and my commitment to upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded, will inspire future generations of Americans.”

That sentiment was echoed by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, whom Hill quoted in her essay. “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,” Markle said. And much like Jackson paid tribute in her Friday remarks to Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, Markle reflected on other contributions by Black women.

“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,” she said.

Hill, a professor at Brandeis University who teaches social policy through the lens of gender, race and legal history, in 1991 testified in front of Congress that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her while they worked together. Thomas was ultimately confirmed to the court. Biden, who as a senator presided over the hearing, in 2019 apologized to Hill for his treatment of her; Hill has said she holds Biden “responsible” for how she was treated by the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991.

Hill wrote in her essay that the court has benefitted from diverse perspectives and that judges such as Justice Thurgood Marshall had been powerful in shaping past Supreme Court deliberations. She expects Jackson could have a similar effect. “If confirmed, I can only imagine that Jackson's presence in the chambers of the Supreme Court will inspire deeper intersectional thinking about the power that the Court's decisions have over people's lives,” she wrote. “In turn, this perspective just may change the justices' thinking.”

Jackson's nomination arrives at at moment when women remain underrepresented in key legal roles. An estimated 38% of all lawyers at U.S. law firms are women, a Sept. 2021 Law360 report found, yet only 9% are women of color. That finding comes even as women have constituted the majority of students on law school campuses since 2016, according to surveys by the American Bar Association.

Jackson spoke about hurdles she faced as a Black woman and mother practicing law in a 2017 speech delivered at the University of Georgia.

“Through this appointment we have all become more visible knowing that our struggles were not in vain,” Hill wrote.