The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a ruling that the mandatory State Bar of Texas violates the associational and free speech rights of attorneys when it engages in activities not “germane” to improving the legal profession, such as funding legislative efforts, Bloomberg Law reports. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with three bar members who said they can’t be forced to support to subsidize those non-germane activities. The appeals court granted an injunction that blocked the bar from requiring membership and dues from the plaintiffs until the lower court determines how much of their dues supported non-germane activity. It rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that all “ideological” activities were necessarily non-germane, citing diversity initiatives that seek to create a fair legal profession. The plaintiffs appealed to the high court, asking it to expand the appeals court ruling to find that members of a mandatory bar can’t be compelled to finance any political or ideological activities and can’t be forced to join one that engages in such activities.

The U.S. Senate voted 53-47 today to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, The Hill reports. She is the first female, Black high court justice and its first former public defender. Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, crossed party lines and voted in favor of Jackson, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in February. Jackson would still need to be sworn in before she’s officially a justice on the Supreme Court. Justice Stephen Breyer, who she is succeeding, has said he will step down over the summer, assuming his successor was in place. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination today with a vote of 11-11, The Hill reports. Under Senate rules, the full chamber now must vote to formally discharge the nomination from the committee, which was expected to happen this evening. So long as the motion to discharge passes, the Senate plans to begin debate on the nomination tomorrow. Three Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have said they will support Jackson.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday defended her record as a federal judge during the second day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Associated Press reports. Jackson strongly pushed back against suggestions that she was too lenient on child pornographers. In response to accusations that her rulings have endangered children, Jackson said, “nothing could be further from the truth.” Tuesday’s hearing was the first of two days of questioning after Jackson and the 22 members of the panel gave opening statements on Monday. On Thursday, the committee will hear from legal experts before an eventual vote to move her nomination to the Senate floor. Watch a live stream on the committee’s website.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today to introduce herself and make an opening statement. She told senators that she sees Breyer as a judicial model and would “hope to carry on his spirit,” The Hill reports. Jackson once clerked for Breyer and if confirmed, would replace him when he retires this summer. Members of the committee also made opening statements but asked no questions. Questioning will begin tomorrow at 9 a.m. EDT. Watch the proceedings on the committee’s website. Photo: Associated Press

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Bernice Bouie Donald is the featured guest on a new podcast episode from Littler Mendelson. Littler’s Inclusion, Equity & Diversity podcast series is hosted by Littler Principal Cindy-Ann Thomas, who talks with Donald about President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Donald reflects on lessons from her own personal journey as a pioneer in U.S. judicial history, why diversity of SCOTUS is so important, why Black women have not equally benefitted from women’s movements and much more. Read more and stream the podcast on Littler’s website.

The Senate Judiciary Committee said this week that confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will begin March 21, keeping the Senate on track for a possible final vote next month, the Associated Press reports. As is tradition, the hearings will last four days, with opening statements on March 21, testimony and questioning on the second and third days, and testimony from outside witnesses on the fourth day. If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman to serve as a justice in the court’s 200-plus year history. WBIR has the AP story.

University of Tennessee College of Law Professor Ben Barton is set to release a new book next week that will provide an in-depth look at the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Credentialed Court: Inside the Cloistered, Elite World of American Justice,” combines empirical studies of every justice’s background from John Jay to Amy Coney Barrett that demonstrate how today’s justices arrive on the court with much narrower experiences than their predecessors. “One thing I learned is that these justices lived very varied and sometimes pretty bizarre lives,” Barton said. “Historically the court has included a former President, a former running back who led the NFL in rushing, America’s greatest civil rights attorney, and a justice who practiced both law and medicine.” The book will be released on March 8. Read more from the College of Law’s website.

President Joe Biden on Friday officially nominated federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman nominated to the high court, the Associated Press reports. If confirmed, Jackson would fill the vacancy created by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, for whom she clerked  early in her legal career. A Harvard Law graduate, Jackson served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission — the agency that develops federal sentencing policy — before becoming a federal judge in 2013. Biden last year nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. According to National Public Radio, Biden is expected to talk about the nomination during his first State of the Union address tomorrow night. Other issues the president is expected to address include rising inflation, Russia’s military advance on Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether the Biden administration must continue to enforce the Trump-era program known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in U.S. immigration court. SCOTUSblog reports that the justices fast-tracked the administration’s appeal, setting the case for oral argument in late April, with a decision expected before the summer recess. President Joe Biden stopped enforcing the policy when he took office. Last year, a district court judge ordered the administration to reinstate it. That ruling is still in effect since the court of appeals and the high court declined to block it at the time. A new, revised effort to end the program also has failed to convince the lower courts to stop it, leading to this latest appeal to the Supreme Court.