An Evening With Ketanji Brown Jackson

Artists

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  Ketanji Brown Jackson

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  Ketanji Brown Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Miami. She received her undergraduate and law degrees, both with honors, from Harvard University, and then served as a law clerk for three federal judges, including Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson subsequently practiced law in the private sector, worked as an attorney and later as vice chair and commissioner of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and served as an assistant federal public defender. In 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Jackson to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2021, Jackson made history in 2022 when President Joseph Biden nominated her as an associate justice. The first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, Jackson took her seat on June 30, 2022.

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  Judge Darrin Gayles

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  Judge Darrin Gayles is a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Following his 2014 nomination to the District Court by President Obama, the United States Senate unanimously confirmed Judge Gayles’ nomination by a 98-0 vote – making Judge Gayles this nation’s first openly gay, African American man to serve on the federal bench. Judge Gayles previously served for more than ten years as a judge of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit. A graduate of Howard University and the George Washington University Law School, Judge Gayles has been a leader and active participant in South Florida’s legal and civic communities. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Judicial Distinction Award, the National Bar Association’s Judicial Service Award, the Dade County Bar Association’s President’s Award, and the Lawyers in Leadership Award from the University of Miami’s Center for Ethics & Public Service. Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Gayles to serve as chairman of the Judicial Conference Committee on Federal-State Jurisdiction. Judge Gayles is also the federal judicial chair of the Florida Bar’s Business Litigation Committee and serves on the teaching faculty for Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop.