She is one of the graduates featured in The Harvest: Integrating Mississippi's Schools, a documentary film produced by Sam Pollard and fellow classmate Douglas A. Blackmon which first aired on American Experience on September 11, 2023.

[3][4] She began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Frank Minis Johnson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from 1989 to 1990.

From 1997 to 2005, she worked in private practice as a criminal defense attorney, where she handled both trials and appeals in state and federal courts.

[5] On May 1, 2014, Obama nominated Pepper to the seat, which was vacated by Judge Charles N. Clevert Jr., who assumed senior status on October 31, 2012.

[8] On November 18, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a cloture motion on her nomination.