Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson opened up about her marriage, confirmation hearing and time on the Supreme Court during recent interviews touting her memoir, “Lovely One,” which came out Tuesday.
“Lovely One” was derived from her African name, Ketanji Onyika.
The new memoir, published by Random House, details Justice Jackson’s family history from segregation to her becoming the first Black female Supreme Court justice.
She spoke to CBS News on Sunday about parts of her book, including where she detailed her relationship with her husband, Patrick G. Jackson, a White man who she said had a more privileged upbringing than she did.
She said it was scary entering an interracial relationship with him at first.
“I wanted my parents to trust me,” she said to CBS News.“Eventually, they realized we were right for each other and that we shared a lot of the same values.”
She said she now feels “privileged” being on the nation’s highest court and that there was enormous pressure on her during her confirmation hearings, which lasted for days on Capitol Hill before senators.
“The eyes of the nation are on you when you are going through this process, and you want to do a good job,” she said. “I am so privileged to have the opportunity to serve in this way.”
Justice Jackson was confirmed by a Senate vote of 53-47 in April 2022.
President Biden nominated her two months before that to take the seat that would be left vacant by retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer, for whom she had clerked.
Mr. Biden had promised he would appoint a Black woman to the bench should a vacancy arise.
In kicking off her book tour, she appeared at New York’s Apollo Theater. She will also visit Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington this week.
“Lovely One” earned Justice Jackson an advance of nearly $900,000 last year. Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor received similar advances for their memoirs.
Justice Jackson is not the only justice on a book tour ahead of the Supreme Court’s return in October for its 2024-25 term.
During the summer recess, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch has been making appearances for his new book, “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of too Much Law.”
And Justice Amy Coney Barrett is working on a book with Sentinel, a conservative imprint of Penguin Random House.
This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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