ATLANTA — Wednesday was the third day of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing and, already, people are eager to see how the historic nomination will break barriers - especially within the law community.
In the Supreme Court’s 232-year history, if Judge Jackson is confirmed, she will not only become the first Black female Justice, but she will also become the first to have served in the public defender role.
Byron Conway, an Atlanta criminal defense attorney, spoke to the importance of having a nominee who comes from this background.
“It's certainly significant to our American criminal legal system because what it does is it gives us confidence that there's a diversity of opinions of the personal philosophies, which adds to the legitimacy of equity, fairness and justice within our American legal system," he said.
Conway has been watching the hearing and praised Judge Jackson on how she is performing so far.
He said her qualifications are unmatched.
"I think soon-to-be Associate Justice Jackson is doing a fantastic job. One thing that they keep in mind that's very important about these hearings is, they should be focused on qualifications of the nominee," he said. "So is she qualified to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States? The answer to that is yes."
As a former public defender, Judge Jackson represented many people who did not have the means to afford legal representation. However, over the years, Conway said the role of public defender has been stigmatized in a way that devalued the position in the law community.
“Some people think we're not lawyers. Some people think we're only public defenders because we could not get jobs as lawyers in other fields of practice," he said. "And I want to be very clear that that is not the case."
Nevertheless, with Judge Jackson's nomination, Conway hopes to see a change in the way people view the profession.
“All of the public defenders out there who have been told for so long that going into the area of public defense was a death knell to their professional advancement as a lawyer, now we know that that is not the case. And we now stand on her shoulders when it comes to our professional advancement," he said.
Judge Jackson’s Senate confirmation hearing is set to continue this week into early April. If confirmed, she will replace Justice Stephen Breyer who announced his intention to retire at the end of this term, according to The White House.