Former judge Janice Rogers Brown was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals, not the Supreme Court
Former judge Janice Rogers Brown was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals, not the Supreme Court
REUTERS - Former Judge Janice Rogers Brown was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals, not the Supreme Court, as has been claimed online. Therefore, news reports that newly appointed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first Black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court are accurate, though some people are still questioning this narrative on social media.
For example, a tweet on the verified account of a Republican candidate for Congress includes a screenshot of a post that has been widely circulating online.
Text accompanying the screenshot reads: “FRAUD: It was Republicans who nominated the 1st Black woman to the SCOTUS & she was BLOCKED & filibustered by... wait for it......Joe Biden. Media: Crickets.”
The writing is accompanied by a black and white photo of Judge Brown.
Since being uploaded, the tweet of the screenshot has been shared nearly 2,000 times and has close to 5,000 likes. It reads: “I like facts.”
Similar iterations of the post can be found on Facebook, all of which have been flagged as false information and the first of which has been shared more than 2,300 times.
Brown was never appointed to the Supreme Court.
She is not listed on the Senate’s register of formally submitted U.S. Supreme Court nominations, and her California Courts profile, where she sat on the state’s Supreme Court, makes no mention of her being nominated for a position on the SCOTUS.
Brown was nominated in 2003 for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C.) Circuit by former Republican President George W. Bush but her nomination was stalled by Democratic senators due to her conservative leanings, per reports.
Biden was among those who opposed and filibustered Brown’s appointment, voting twice against her.
But in 2005, she was re-nominated by Bush and confirmed as a U.S. Circuit Judge, a position she held until her retirement in July 2017.
Although she was never nominated to the Supreme Court, she was reportedly considered for the seat left vacant in 2005 by Sandra Day O’Connor.
Biden told CBS News program “Face The Nation” in July 2005 that Brown “probably would be filibustered” if she had been nominated to the SCOTUS.
President Biden nominated Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court on Feb. 25, 2022.
The Senate then confirmed Jackson on April 7, making her the first Black woman to be nominated and sit on the SCOTUS.
