Investiture of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
On September 30, 2022, Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was formally inducted to the Supreme Court at her investiture ceremony. She was already sworn in as of June 30, 2022, and now officially takes her seat on the Court. Associate Justice Jackson is the 116th Supreme Court Justice, the sixth woman, and first Black woman to sit on the bench.
An investiture is essentially a formal ceremony where the Court holds a special sitting that does not allow members of the press to record video or audio. According to the Supreme Court’s website, “During this special ceremony, referred to as the investiture, the Chief Justice generally administers the Constitutional Oath privately to the new Justice in the Justices’ Conference Room, the commission is presented and read aloud in the Courtroom and the Chief Justice administers the Judicial Oath in the Courtroom”.
Those who attended this ceremony included President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, as well as Jackson’s parents, brother, husband and two daughters. The ceremony was led by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Chief Justice Roberts then administered the judicial oath for the second time, and Associate Justice Jackson was directed to her new seat on the far-right of the court. The Justices were seated and dismissed, and the ceremony and special sitting ended.
Congratulations to Associate Justice Jackson!