Senate confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson as judge on powerful D.C. federal appeals court
14 June 2021
The Senate voted 53-44 on Monday to confirm judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Why it matters: The court is often viewed as a stepping stone for the Supreme Court, and Jackson is considered a favorite to receive a nomination if a Supreme Court vacancy opens up. President Biden has promised to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.
- Of note: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that it is "highly unlikely" a Supreme Court nominee picked by Biden would be confirmed in 2024 if Republicans take control of the Senate.
The big picture: Jackson is filling a position left vacant by Merrick Garland, who served as D.C. circuit court judge prior to becoming attorney general.
- Jackson graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the law review.
- She was once a clerk for Justice Stephen Breyer, the oldest justice on the Supreme Court.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.