Former Clerk Celebrates Confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

As the U.S. Senate chambers erupted in celebration following the vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, one NCAJ member was cheering along as she waited for court to begin in Chatham County. Olivia Warren, a staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, clerked for Jackson on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She shared her reaction to the confirmation this afternoon.

“Judge Jackson’s confirmation today is both historic and joyful,” Warren said. “As a citizen, I celebrate the contributions that her brilliance, experience, and compassion will bring to a court that affects all of our lives on a daily basis. As a lawyer who represents poor people accused and convicted of crimes, I am hopeful that her experience as the first public defender on the Supreme Court will mean continued progress towards equal justice under law for my clients and our communities. And as one of her former law clerks, I am forever grateful for the year I spent learning from her. Judge Jackson is the reason I am the lawyer that I am today, and I can’t wait to see how many more people her words, her work, and her story will inspire.”

Warren is a member of NCAJ’s New Lawyers Division. She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School.

The Senate voted 53 to 47 to confirm Jackson, making her the first Black woman elevated to the Supreme Court.