When Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's daughter campaigned for her

Brut America

Before she was President Biden's pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson had already scored this important endorsement ... from her daughter.

Transcript

00:00She trotted off and she came back a little while later with the following handwritten note.

00:06Dear Mr. President, while you are considering judges to fill Justice Scalia's seat on the

00:12Supreme Court, I would like to add my mother, Katonji Brown-Jackson, of the District Court

00:18to the list.

00:30My youngest daughter came to us, maybe about three weeks or so after Justice Scalia passed,

00:38and asked us very earnestly whether we had heard that Justice Scalia had died and there

00:43was a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

00:47We assured her that we had.

00:50And she said that some of her middle school friends had been talking and they said to

00:54her, you know, your mom's a judge, she should really apply for that position.

01:02Now Layla thought that was a pretty good idea and so she had come to tell me that I should

01:08submit an application for the open Supreme Court seat.

01:11Well, Patrick and I explained to her that getting to be on the Supreme Court isn't really

01:16the kind of job that you apply for.

01:19You just have to be lucky enough to have the President find you among the thousands of

01:23people who might want to do that job, to which Layla responded, well, if the President

01:29has to find you, I'm going to write him a letter to tell him who you are.

01:34She trotted off and she came back a little while later with the following handwritten

01:40note.

01:41Dear Mr. President, while you are considering judges to fill Justice Scalia's seat on the

01:47Supreme Court, I would like to add my mother, Katonji Brown-Jackson, of the District Court

01:53to the list.

01:54I, her daughter, Layla Jackson, of 11 years old, strongly believe that she would be an

02:01excellent fit for the position.

02:03She is determined, honest, and never breaks a promise to anyone, even if there are other

02:08things she'd rather do.

02:11She can demonstrate commitment and is loyal and never brags.

02:16I think she would make a great Supreme Court Justice, even if the workload will be larger

02:21on the court or if you have other nominees.

02:25Please consider her aspects for the job.

02:27Thank you for listening, Layla Jackson.

02:31Well, it is difficult to put into words how it felt to get such a ringing endorsement

02:37from my own daughter.

02:40It was an actual testimony that was by far more meaningful than any make-believe account

02:46of how my daughters feel.

02:49In that moment, I realized not only that I'm raising an assertive young woman who

02:54isn't afraid to speak her mind, even to the President of the United States, but also that

02:59my daughters are not oblivious to my work and are proud of me as I am of them and our

03:06entire family.

03:08It has been a lot of hard work trying to balance work and motherhood, and like so many other

03:14people, I often feel as if I'm failing in both arenas.

03:19But in that one brief shining moment, as I read Layla's letter, I got a glimpse of my

03:26professional and personal life combined, and what I saw made me feel as if my husband and

03:32I are well on our way to achieving success in both worlds.

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