U.S. Senate confirms Judge Ketanji Jackson, local attorneys talk about reaction

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — “Today and for the first time Black women and girls can truly see themselves as a supreme court justice,” says attorney Kay Harper Williams.

After weeks of questioning, the justice was voted in 53-47.

Attorneys in Jacksonville say Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a new role model for young women of color.

“We now have all options on the table, so in the same way that Barack Obama became the president opened up that line of sight for Black kids and Black people, this does the exact same thing,” says Harper Williams.

“Now to be able to say look you can do it, you can look at me as an attorney, owner of a law room, but look past me and look at Justice Jackson,” Smith said.

Even in Duval County, these kinds of events are still historic.

“We’re still breaking through ceilings. Even here in Jacksonville, Judge Rhonda Peoples-Waters is the first Black woman elected to the bench in Duval County,” Harper Williams said.

As a brand- new law school at Jacksonville University opens in the next few years,- these attorneys say it opens options for young women of color who see themselves as the next Judge Jackson.

“To see those first still happening just encourages us all to push harder to encourage little girls and show them what we can do and what we could be,” Harper Williams said.

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