参议院周四确认凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊法官到最高法院，为她铺平道路成为美国最高法院的第一位黑人女性。

就在53比47的两党投票之前——参议员站在办公桌前宣布投票的罕见时刻——参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)称之为“美国的一个更伟大的时刻，因为我们正在走向一个更完美的联盟。”

白宫表示，总统乔·拜登将于周五在南草坪举行仪式，庆祝杰克逊获得参议院批准。副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯主持参议院，并微笑着宣布投票结果。

参议院旁听席上的观众欢呼起来，许多参议员起立长时间鼓掌。

一份联合报道称，杰克逊在白宫与拜登和她的家人一起观看了参议院的投票。

随着参议院即将迎来为期两周的复活节休会，参议院在最后一次点名投票之前，首先投票终止了对杰克逊提名的辩论。拜登宣布选择杰克逊已经42天了。

虽然民主党凭借自己的力量获得了确认拜登提名的票数，但三名共和党参议员苏珊·科林斯、莉萨·穆尔科斯基和米特罗姆尼脱离共和党加入他们，标志着拜登在超党派华盛顿的白宫取得了坚实的两党胜利。前总统唐纳德·特朗普的最后一位提名人艾米·科尼·巴雷特法官没有获得民主党人的选票。

杰克逊预计要到夏天才会正式宣誓就职即将退休的斯蒂芬·布雷耶法官下台。

随着杰克逊升任法官，白人首次不再是最高法院的多数。

道格·米尔斯/POOL/法新社

法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊为她被提名为助理大法官作证.

在…里马拉松式的听证会上个月，在参议院司法委员会之前，杰克逊有机会告诉陪审团和美国人民，在国家最高法院任职对她来说意味着什么。

“我站在许多在我之前的人的肩膀上，包括康斯坦斯·贝克·莫特利法官，她是第一位被任命为联邦法官的非洲裔美国女性，我和她同一天生日，”杰克逊说。“而且，像莫特利法官一样，我把我的职业生涯奉献给了确保刻在最高法院大楼正面的文字——“法律面前人人平等”——成为现实，而不仅仅是一个理想。”

杰克逊几乎忍受了24小时的审问参议员们在听证会上，有时是充满争议和情绪化的。

“没有一位法官是黑人女性。杰克森法官，你可以做第一个，”迪克·德宾主席说。“做第一个不容易。你必须是最好的，在某些方面是最聪明的。你们今天来到这里，以及你们勇敢面对这一过程的意愿，将激励数百万在你们身上看到自己的女性。”

与此同时，一些共和党人指责杰克逊她是一个自由主义活动家和“对犯罪手软”——对她宣布的九项儿童色情判决提出异议，批评她为关塔那摩湾被拘留者开展的法律工作，并质疑她从进步团体获得的支持。

"在你被提名的时候，你有没有注意到左派人士都在为你欢呼?"南卡罗来纳州共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆问道。

“很多人都在为我加油，参议员，”她回答道。

值得注意的是，格雷厄姆去年投票确认杰克逊的终身司法任命，但他说这次他会投反对票，并警告说，如果共和党控制了参议院，杰克逊就不会得到听证会。

共和党内的其他人敦促杰克逊解释关键的种族理论，说婴儿是否是种族主义者，并定义“女人”——民主党人在开始时反复批评的问题捍卫她的记录并为她的人品喝彩。

“你没有到那里是因为一些左翼议程，”新泽西州民主党参议员科里·布克在一段戏剧性的独白中告诉她，感动得杰克逊流泪。“你们没有走到这一步，是因为一些黑暗的金钱集团。你知道美国所有成功的黑人女性都是怎么做到的。你是值得的。你是一个伟大的美国人。”

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

在听参议员科里·布克讲话时，最高法院提名法官凯坦吉·布朗..

尽管参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)在审视她的司法哲学时，称杰克逊的表现有时“含糊不清”，但杰克逊坚称，她的司法哲学“没有标签”——因为她说她没有标签。她告诉委员会，“我敏锐地意识到，在我们的系统中，作为一名法官，我的权力有限，我会在每一个案件中努力保持在我的范围内。”

现年51岁的杰克逊目前在美国哥伦比亚特区巡回上诉法院任职，拜登和由参议院确认去年在两党投票中。她还在另外两个场合获得了参议院的确认。

布莱耶法官任期结束退休后，她将接替他，布莱耶法官曾是她的秘书。杰克逊上个月说，“被考虑接替布雷耶大法官的位置是极其令人羞愧的，我知道我永远也不可能接替他的位置。但如果得到证实，我希望继承他的精神。”

当拜登正式宣布杰克逊的提名在白宫，他兑现了在南卡罗来纳州初选前的2020年总统竞选中做出的承诺，当时他严重依赖该州黑人选民的支持。

“很长时间以来，我们的政府，我们的法院看起来不像美国，”他在2月25日说。“我相信，现在是时候了，我们需要一个有着非凡资历的被提名人的法院，来反映我们国家的全部才能和伟大。”

杰克逊的父母约翰尼·布朗和埃勒里·布朗是迈阿密本地人，在南方种族隔离的环境下长大，他们也在场历史性听证会来支持他们的女儿——他们说有一次学校辅导员告诉她要放低眼光。

相反，杰克逊飞黄腾达。

在成长过程中，她的母亲是迈阿密戴德郡一所公立高中的校长，杰克逊在那里上公立学校，是一名“明星学生”，而她的父亲是一名教师，后来成为县学校董事会律师。杰克逊深情地回忆起她在涂色书上画画的回忆，那时她父亲正在研究他法学院的教科书。她的弟弟，也是她唯一的兄弟姐妹，在美国军队服役，并在战斗中服役。她的两个叔叔是执法人员。

从迈阿密帕尔梅托高中毕业后，杰克逊继续就读于哈佛大学和哈佛法学院。在那里，她遇到了丈夫帕特里克，一名哈佛的普通外科医生，这对夫妇有两个女儿，21岁的塔利亚和17岁的莱拉。

当被问及她对美国年轻人的信息是什么时，杰克逊向参议院司法委员会回忆说，当她在哈佛的第一个学期感到格格不入时，一个陌生人给她上了一堂非凡的韧性课。

“我真的在问:我属于这里吗?我能，我能在这种环境下成功吗?”她说。“晚上我在院子里散步，一个我不认识的黑人妇女在人行道上从我身边走过，她看着我，我想她知道我的感受。当我们穿过时，她靠过来说“坚持住”"

“我会告诉他们坚持下去，”杰克逊说。

Senate confirms Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court in historic vote

The Senate on Thursday confirmedJudge Ketanji Brown Jacksonto the Supreme Court,paving the way for herto become the first Black woman to sit on the nation's highest court.

Just before the 53-47 bipartisan vote -- a rare occasion when senators announced their votes standing at their desks -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it "an even greater moment for America as we rise to a more perfect union."

The White House said President Joe Biden would mark Jackson's Senate confirmation with a South Lawn ceremony Friday. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the Senate and smiled as she announced the vote.

Spectators in the Senate gallery cheered and many senators rose in an extended standing ovation.

Jackson watched the Senate vote at the White House with Biden and her family, a pool report said.

With the Senate barreling toward a two-week Easter recess, the Senate had first voted to cut off debate on Jackson's nomination, ahead of the final roll call vote. It's been 42 days since Biden announced Jackson as his pick.

While Democrats had the votes to confirm Biden's nominee on their own, three Republicans -- Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney --broke ranks from the GOPto join them, marking a solid, bipartisan win for the Biden White House in a hyper-partisan Washington. Former President Donald Trump's last nominee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, received no votes from Democrats.

Jackson is not expected to be fully sworn in for duty until summer, onceretiring Justice Stephen Breyersteps down.

With Jackson's ascension to the bench,for the first time, white men won't be the majority on the Supreme Court.

Inmarathon hearingsbefore the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, Jackson was given the opportunity to tell the panel -- and the American people -- what it would mean to her to serve on the nation's highest court.

"I stand on the shoulders of so many who have come before me, including Judge Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom I share a birthday," Jackson said. "And, like Judge Motley, I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building -- 'Equal Justice Under Law' -- are a reality and not just an ideal."

Jackson endured nearly24 hours of questioningfrom senators in the, at times, contentious and emotional, hearings.

"Not a single justice has been a Black woman. You, Judge Jackson, can be the first," said chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "It's not easy being the first. You have to be the best and in some ways the brightest. Your presence here today and your willingness to brave this process will give inspiration to millions of women who see themselves in you."

Meanwhile, several Republicansassailed Jackson with accusationsthat she's a liberal activist and "soft on crime"-- taking issue with nine child pornography sentences she handed down, criticizing her legal work for Guantanamo Bay detainees, and questioning support she received from progressive groups.

"In your nomination, did you notice that people from the left were pretty much cheering you on?" asked Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

"A lot of people were cheering me on, senator," she replied.

Notably, Graham voted to confirm Jackson to a lifetime judicial appointment last year but said he'll vote no this time -- and warned that if Republicans had control of the Senate, Jackson wouldn't have received hearings to begin with.

Others in the GOP pressed Jackson to explain critical race theory, say whether babies are racist, and to define "woman" -- questions Democrats repeatedly criticized as they took todefending her recordand applauding her character.

"You did not get there because of some left wing agenda," Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told her in a dramatic soliloquy, moving Jackson to tears. "You didn't get here because of some dark money groups. You got here how every Black woman in America who has gotten anywhere has done. You are worthy. You are a great American."

While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Jackson's performance, at times, "evasive and unclear," scrutinizing her judicial philosophy, Jackson insisted "there is not a label" for her judiciary philosophy -- because she says she doesn't have one. She told the committee, "I am acutely aware that, as a judge in our system, I have limited power, and I am trying in every case to stay in my lane."

At age 51, Jackson currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to which she was named by Biden andconfirmed by the Senatelast year in a bipartisan vote. She has also been Senate-confirmed on two other occasions.

She will replace Justice Breyer, whom she once clerked for, when he retires at the end of the term. Jackson said last month, "It is extremely humbling to be considered for Justice Breyer's seat, and I know that I could never fill his shoes. But if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit."

When Biden formallyannounced Jackson's nominationat the White House, he fulfilled a promise made on the 2020 presidential campaign ahead of the South Carolina primary when he relied heavily on support from the state's Black voters.

"For too long our government, our courts haven't looked like America," he said on Feb. 25. "And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications."

Jackson's parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, Miami natives who grew up under segregation in the South, were on hand at thehistoric hearingsto support their daughter -- who they say was once told by a school guidance counselor to lower her sights.

Jackson, instead, soared.

Growing up, her mother was a public high school principal in Miami-Dade County, where Jackson attended public schools and was a "star student," while her father was a teacher and, later on, county school board attorney. Jackson has fondly recalled memories of drawing in her coloring books next to her father studying his law school textbooks. Her younger brother, her only sibling, served in the U.S. military and did tours in combat. Two of her uncles have been law enforcement officers.

After graduating from Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Jackson went on to attend Harvard College and Harvard Law School. There she met her husband, Patrick, a general surgeon, at Harvard, and the couple share two daughters, Talia, 21, and Leila, 17.

Asked what her message to young Americans would be, Jackson recalled to the Senate Judiciary Committee that when she was feeling out of place at Harvard in her first semester -- a stranger provided a remarkable lesson in resilience.

"I was really questioning: Do I belong here? Can I, can I make it in this environment?" she said. "And I was walking through the yard in the evening and a Black woman I did not know was passing me on the sidewalk, and she looked at me, and I guess she knew how I was feeling. And she leaned over as we crossed and said 'persevere.'"

"I would tell them to persevere," Jackson said.