RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF APRIL 21, 2022
Title
RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners congratulating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Body
WHEREAS, on February 25, 2022, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson made history by being the first Black woman nominated to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court), the highest judicial body in the country. She was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to succeed Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer. On April 7, 2022, in a vote of 53-47, she again made history by becoming the first Black woman confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, prior to being nominated to the Supreme Court, Judge Jackson served in numerous esteemed capacities including serving as Vice chair/Commissioner on the United States Sentencing Commission (2010-2014), a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (2013-2021), and an appellate judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2021-2022). It is also noteworthy that Judge Jackson clerked for Associate Justice Breyer at the Supreme Court from 1999-2000; and
WHEREAS, born in Washington, D.C. on September 14,1970, the daughter of school teachers, Judge Jackson moved with her family to Miami, Florida at a young age. Following her graduation from Miami Palmetto High School in 1988, she was selected to attend the esteemed Harvard University. Judge Jackson earned her bachelor's degree in government, magna cum laude, in 1992 and her juris doctor, cum laude, in 1996; and
WHEREAS, Judge Jackson has been honored numerous times for her unyielding commitment to the law, including the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Visiting Jurist award from the University of Chicago Law School; the Stars of the Bar award from the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia; the David T. Lewis Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence award from the University of Utah, S.J. Quiney College of Law; the Distinguished Visiting Jurist, Third Annual Judge James B. Parsons Legacy award from the Black Law Students Association at the University of Chicago Law School; and the Constance Baker Motley award for Empowering Women of Color from Columbia Law School; and
WHEREAS, Judge Jackson will take her oath of office later this summer after Associate Justice Breyer officially retires at the beginning of the Supreme Court’s summer recess. It is anticipated that her official first day on the bench will be October 3, 2022. As if Judge Jackson has not broken enough barriers in her historic nomination and confirmation, she will also be the first former public defender to serve on the Supreme Court; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, on behalf of ourselves and our staff, do hereby congratulate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on her Supreme Court of the United States confirmation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be spread upon the permanent Record of Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Dated: April 21, 2022