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Five Things To Know About US Supreme Court Nominee

Published

4 years ago

February 25, 2022

President Biden has chosen Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his pick to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court — fulfilling his campaign promise of appointing a Black woman to the nation’s highest court.

Biden formally announced Jackson, 51, as his nominee at the White House on Friday afternoon.

“Judge Jackson is an exceptionally qualified nominee as well as a historic nominee,” the White House said in a statement. “And the Senate should move forward with a fair and timely hearing and confirmation.”

Here are 5 things to know about Jackson.

She clerked for Breyer

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Jackson served as a law clerk to three federal judges, including Breyer on the Supreme Court.

As Breyer’s clerk during the court’s 1999-2000 term, Jackson “learned up close how important it is for a Supreme Court Justice to build consensus and speak to a mainstream understanding of the Constitution,” the White House said in its announcement.

According to the Boston Globe, the 83-year-old Breyer considers Jackson a member of his extended “family.”

Confirmed to her current post with bipartisan support

Biden nominated Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last summer, and she was confirmed by the Senate in a 53-44 vote, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voting in her favor.

But in a tweet early Friday, Graham said that the nomination of Jackson “means the radical Left has won President Biden over yet again.”

Graham had heaped praise on U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was speculated to be one of Biden’s leading contenders for the Supreme Court.

“She would be somebody, I think, that could bring the Senate together and probably get more than 60 votes,” Graham said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” earlier this month. “Anyone else would be problematic.”

Life experiences not race play a role in her work

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1970, Jackson moved to Florida as a young child with her parents, graduates of historically Black colleges and universities who worked as public school teachers.

During her confirmation hearing for the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked Jackson how race would affect her job.

“I don’t think that race plays a role in the kind of judge that I have been and would be. I’m doing a certain thing when I get my cases,” Jackson replied. “I’m looking at the arguments, the facts and the law. I’m methodically and intentionally setting aside personal views [and] any other inappropriate considerations, and I would think that race would be the kind of thing that would be inappropriate to inject into my evaluation of a case.”

Jackson also made it clear that she believed her perspective was still crucial to the court.

“I’ve experienced life in perhaps a different way than some of my colleagues because of who I am, and that might be valuable — I hope it would be valuable — if I was confirmed to the court,” she said.

She was a public defender

If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Supreme Court justice since Thurgood Marshall to have represented indigent criminal defendants.

During her April confirmation hearing, Jackson discussed how her experience as a public defender would benefit her approach to cases on the bench.

“One of the things that I do now is I take extra care to communicate with the defendants who come before me in the courtroom,” Jackson said. “I speak to them directly, and not just to their lawyers. I use their names.”

In addition to her public-defender work, Jackson served as vice chairman of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, working to reduce the penalties for crack cocaine offenders.

Ordered Trump’s former counsel to testify in his impeachment inquiry
In her work as a federal judge, one of Jackson’s most prominent rulings was a 2019 decision in which she ordered former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn to testify in the impeachment inquiry against then-President Donald Trump.

McGahn, a key witness in Robert Mueller’s investigation, was called to testify by the House Judiciary Committee to determine if there were grounds for Trump’s impeachment. Trump ordered McGahn not to testify on the grounds that his role as the president’s close adviser had granted him immunity.

In her 118-page decision, Jackson declared that immunity “simply does not exist,” even for the commander in chief.

“Presidents are not kings,” she wrote. “This means that they do not have subjects bound by loyalty or blood, whose destiny they are entitled to control.”

She’s related by marriage to Paul Ryan
Jackson met her husband, Patrick Jackson, when the two were at Harvard College. He is a surgeon and they have two daughters.

His twin brother is the brother-in-law of Janna Ryan, wife of former House Speaker Paul Ryan.

“Janna and I are incredibly happy for Ketanji and her entire family,” Ryan tweeted on Friday. “Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanji’s intellect, for her character, and for her integrity, is unequivocal.”

Headline

Russia Insists Ukraine Must Cede Land Or Face Continued Military Push

Published

17 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own — otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.

“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”

Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.

Another important issue in the talks are Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.

Washington’s original plan — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.

Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.

“Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points.

US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile due to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

– ‘Little can be done’ –

In his remarks Thursday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.

“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.

Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.

The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.

Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.

Putin also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.

According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 square kilometres (180 square miles) each month in 2025 — a step up from 2024.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.

Headline

Morocco Jails French Rapper Maes For Kidnapping Bid

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A Moroccan court has sentenced French rapper Maes to seven years in prison on charges including the formation of a criminal gang and attempted kidnapping, local reports said Wednesday.

Maes, who has roots in Morocco and whose real name is Walid Georgey, was arrested upon landing in Morocco in January after fleeing the United Arab Emirates, where he feared he could be extradited to France, the reports said.

French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him over a separate criminal case.

He appeared in court late Tuesday and was found guilty of “forming a criminal organisation, attempted abduction and unlawful confinement” of a rival in Morocco, news website TelQuel reported.

The rapper with over a billion views on his YouTube channel was accused of tasking a gang and hitmen with killing the rival, but the plot was foiled, TelQuel added.

Maes has denied all charges, with his lawyers calling the case “empty” and “arguing that no evidence linked him to the other defendants”, TelQuel added.

Ten other people were sentenced as part of the case, with terms ranging from one to 10 years, according to news website Media24.

AFP was unable to independently verify the reports as prosecutors were not immediately reachable for comment.

In 2020, when Maes was one of France’s most-streamed rappers, he fell victim to extortion attempts in his native Sevran, a suburb north of Paris, according to reports.

He retaliated by opening fire with weapons he had at home, leading to a shootout. He then fled to Dubai with his family, according to an interview with French YouTube channel LEGEND.

Following the killing of his manager in 2022, he was suspected of ordering reprisals against those he believed were behind the murder, according to reports.

AFP

Headline

UK Court Clears Comedy Writer Of Harassing Transgender Woman

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A London court on Tuesday cleared Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan of harassing a transgender activist online but found him guilty of criminal damage to their mobile phone.

Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted” but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views, had been accused of sending Sophia Brooks “abusive and vindictive” messages on social media.

He was also charged with criminal damage after deliberately knocking a phone out of Brooks’s hand as they filmed him on the sidelines of a London conference.

Ruling on the case, District Judge Briony Clarke said she was not convinced Linehan’s conduct “was oppressive and unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”.

Clarke also concluded Brooks was not “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.

But convicting Linehan of criminal damage, the judge ruled he was “angry and fed up” and did not use “reasonable force” when the phone was taken from Brooks.

Clarke fined him £500 ($655) and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200.

The Irish writer, who also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain earlier this year over his anti-transgender stance.

It followed his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his X posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. But in October, UK prosecutors said they would take “no further action” in that case.

AFP