Who was Constance Baker Motley and why did Ketanji Brown Jackson identify her as a role model?

Constance Baker Motley (1921–2005) was a pioneering American lawyer and jurist who played a central role in the civil rights movement. As an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, she argued numerous landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1966, she became the first African American woman appointed to a federal judgeship, serving on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York until her death.1

Ketanji Brown Jackson identified Motley as a role model during her own nomination process to the Supreme Court. Jackson highlighted Motley’s legacy as the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, acknowledging her as a trailblazer whose historic achievements paved the way for future generations of Black women in the legal profession and the judiciary.2