Turner on Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court confirmation: 'Another door has been opened'

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner lauded the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court on Thursday (April 7).

"Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson," Turner tweeted. "Another door has been opened. This Court looks a little bit more like America."

According to National Public Radio (NPR), the Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Jackson as the high court's 116th justice. The Washington, D.C.-born Jackson is the first African American woman to sit on the Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden, who promised during his 2020 campaign to nominate a black woman to the country's highest court, said the confirmation was a "historic moment," NPR reported.

"We've taken another step toward making our highest court reflect the diversity of America," Biden tweeted. "She will be an incredible Justice, and I was honored to share this moment with her."

The vote to confirm Jackson was simply along party lines.

All 50 Senate Democrats voted to confirm Jackson, with Republican Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joining them, NPR reported.

Texas U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz were among those who opposed the confirmation.

Many Republicans alleged that Jackson was soft on crime by granting lighter sentences to child sexual abusers.

According to her Biography.com profile, Brown was born in 1970.

Graduating from Harvard with a law degree in 1996, Brown went on to become a federal public defender and a federal judge.

She currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Brown is set to succeed the retiring Stephen Breyer.