Forrest County attorney reacts to historic SCOTUS swearing in

FORREST COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - The first-ever African-American woman now sits on the highest court in the United States, and a Forrest County attorney who made Pine Belt history is excited to see the glass ceiling shatter.

On June 30, Justice Kentanji Brown-Jackson officially took the oath of office to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

The historic move makes Vanessa Jones, a local Pine Belt history maker herself, very proud.

“In 2000, I was appointed the first Black woman assistant district attorney in Forrest and Perry counties,” said Jones. “Served there, and I went on to become the first female appointed Hattiesburg Municipal Court judge.”

Jones said that as a woman who made her own mark in the history book, she was overjoyed to watch Justice Brown-Jackson do the same on the highest level in the country.

“So, you’re talking about someone who is so highly qualified, who just happens to be an African-American woman,” said Jones. “So, that just really does my heart good to see this come to fruition.”

Justice Brown-Jackson is a two-time Harvard graduate, and she served on the Court of Appeals and as a U.S. District judge.

“She clerked for who she’s replacing Justice Breyer,” said Jones. “You check that block off, because all the justices have clerked for a former supreme court justice. Then she served on the sentencing commission.”

She said that seeing Justice Brown-Jackson shows little girls everywhere that they can do anything they set their minds to do.

“I’m just really full today, to see a highly qualified African-American woman, serving on the highest court in our country,” said Jones.

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