So, Who Is Ketanji Brown Jackson & What Is Her Connection To South Florida?

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- President Joe Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court, setting in motion a historic confirmation process for the first Black woman to sit on the highest court in the nation.

So, who is Ketanji Brown Jackson?

--Jackson currently sits on DC's federal appellate court.

--She will be the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

--She was considered a frontrunner for the vacancy since Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement.

-- She will likely sit on the court sometime this summer after Breyer officially retires.

--She clerked for Breyer and served as a federal public defender in Washington.

--She was a commissioner on the US Sentencing Commission and served on the federal district court in DC, as an appointee of President Barack Obama, before Biden elevated her to the DC Circuit last year.

--While she was born in Washington, D.C., Jackson grew up in Miami.

--She graduated from Miami Palmetto Senior High School, where she was a member of the debate team.

--Her parents both started out as public school teachers.

--Her father, Johnny Brown, became an attorney for the Miami-Dade School Board.

--Her mother, Ellery Brown, became the principal at New World School of the Arts.

--She earned both her undergraduate degree and law degree from Harvard.

--Jackson is married to Patrick Jackson, a surgeon, whom she met at Harvard.

--They have two daughters together, Talia and Leila.

--She is 51 years old.

--Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, is a relative by marriage.

--Jackson penned more than 500 opinions in the eight years she spent on the district court.

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