Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s distinct criminal justice background garnering attention as she tops SCOTUS short list

Long-time readers may recall that, six years ago after the surprise death of Justice Antonin Scalia, I started to talk up then-US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as my favorite SCOTUS short-lister.  Though Judge Jackson was only 45 years old back in 2016 and had then served only three years as a federal district judge, I felt that her impressive professional history and especially her criminal justice experiences — as a federal public defender, as a member of the US Sentencing Commission, and as a sentencing judges — would make her an especially valuable addition to the Supreme Court.

Fast forward six years, and I still think now-US Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would be a great pick for an open seat on the Supreme Court.  And because Judge Jackson now is on the very top of nearly every SCOTUS short list, major papers are already robustly covering her criminal justice experiences.  Specifically, this past weekend brought these two notable pieces:

From the New York Times, “For Ketanji Brown Jackson, View of Criminal Justice Was Shaped by Family

From the Washington Post, “Possible Supreme Court nominee, former defender, saw impact of harsh drug sentence firsthand“

Both of these pieces focus a bit more on the personal than on the professional, but I suppose that is inevitably the main currency in these sorts of pieces.  I will be interested to see, in the weeks leading up to Prez Biden’s selection and especially if Judge Jackson gets the nomination, how her professional history as a federal public defender and as a member of the US Sentencing Commission garners additional attention.  Interesting times.