President Barack Obama ’91 nominated Ketanji Jackson ’96 to fill a spot on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. If confirmed by the Senate, Jackson would be one of seven voting members of the commission, which oversees the sentencing guidelines used by federal judges and advises Congress on criminal law.
Jackson currently practices at the law firm Morrison & Forester in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Jackson worked as an assistant federal public defender in the appeals division of the Office of the Federal Public Defender in the District of Columbia. She argued half a dozen cases in the D.C. Circuit, and wrote numerous briefs and a petition for writ of certiorari involving significant issues of criminal law and procedure.
She has also held positions as an assistant special counsel of the United States Sentencing Commission, where she drafted amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines, and as an associate with two boutique law firms, one specializing in white-collar criminal defense, the other focusing on the negotiated settlement of mass-tort claims.
After law school, Jackson clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer ’64.