A Supreme Court justice revealed on CNN she might have given up her career in law to help raise her daughter, who has autism, had she received an earlier diagnosis.
Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman and the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court when she was nominated by President Joe Biden in February 2022 and confirmed by the Senate two months later.
Jackson, a Miami native who graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, replaced Justice Stephen Breyer. But she told CNN anchor Abby Phillips in a lengthy sit-down interview about her new book that her illustrious career may not have happened.
"So much of this book is deeply personal," said Phillip. "You share about your family. Your husband and your two daughters. You also reveal for the first time that your older daughter Talia is autistic."
"Yes,' Jackson replied.
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"This really struck me," said Phillip. "You wrote, 'Had I truly been of the mindset to accept what was going on with my child, I probably would have quit my job to attend to her needs full-time."
"Yes," Jackson replied again.
"Did you really consider walking away from all that you had dreamed of for yourself and all that you had accomplished?" asked Phillip.
"Absolutely. We struggled when she was young trying to really understand what she needed. What she needed to be ... for support in education and in other areas. But we didn't have a diagnosis. We didn't know that she was autistic until about seventh grade."
Jackson said she thought at the time things could improve if only she could find the "right school, the "right lessons or after-school program" or the "right nanny."
"It was that delusion in a way that kept me thinking, 'I should just continue to stay in my job while I look for yet another accommodation."
Jackson then revealed a remarkable admission.
"I think if I had known earlier I probably would have just decided that I needed to care for her full time," she said, adding that part of the reason she wanted to share her story is to remind others they, too, can do things they "dream" of, "even if you have challenges in your family."
Watch the clip below or at this link.