Ketanji Brown Jackson.Photo: Tom Williams/AP/Shutterstock
The Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings Monday on the nomination ofJoe Biden’s first Supreme Court pick,51-year-old Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Jackson is a history-making nominee and, if confirmed, would be the first Black woman to serve on the country’s highest court.
A graduate of Harvard Law who currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Jackson spoke of her appreciation at the nomination in an official ceremony in February, telling Biden: “I am especially grateful for the care that you have taken in discharging your constitutional duty in service of our democracy with all that is going on in the world today.”
If confirmed, Jackson would replace Justice Stephen Breyer, whosaid in January he will retirefrom the court.
Here’s more about her and the Supreme Court confirmation process, which is beingstreamed online.
How It Works
On Thursday, the Senate will hear testimony from witnesses about Jackson’s experience and history.
When debate over Jackson’s confirmation ends, the Senate — which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans — will vote on her nomination. A simple majority is required for confirmation and if there is a tie, Vice PresidentKamala Harriswill cast the deciding vote.
What to Expect at the Hearings
As the White House noted in announcing her nomination, Jackson has a history of bipartisan support before the Senate — to the United States Sentencing Commission, the federal district court for Washington, D.C., and to the appeals court. Her confirmation to the D.C. Circuit was 53-to-44, with yeses from Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
It’s unclear whether those who have supported her in the past will do so again. TheMiami Heraldreports that her meeting with South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham — who supported her appellate confirmation last year — lastedjust 15 minutes.
By comparison, Jackson’s meeting with Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who also voted in favor of her earlier confirmation, lasted 90 minutes.
Democrats have lauded Jackson’s experience, with Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin saying on the Senate floor last week, “Her qualifications are exceptional. In every role she’s held, she has earned a reputation for thoughtfulness, even-handedness, and collegiality,“CNN reports.
Some Republicans, meanwhile, have intensified attacks against her. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley,who has a history of controversies of his own, recently argued that Jackson had been too lenient in sentencing sex offenders — one of several assertions the Associated Press reported werenot entirely accurate.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile,has targetedher experience as a criminal defense attorney, saying in a recent floor speech that “the soft-on-crime brigade is squarely in Judge Jackson’s corner,” perThe New York Times.
“Her supporters look at her résumé and deduce a special empathy for criminals, McConnell said. “I guess that means that government prosecutors and innocent crime victims start each trial at a disadvantage.”
Who Ketanji Brown Jackson Is
Jackson’s career ranges from clerking for retiring Justice Breyer himself to serving as an appellate judge and on the U.S. Sentencing Commission as well as a federal public defender.
She also presided over the hearing of the North Carolina man who fired an AR-15 rifle inside Washington, D.C’s Comet Ping Pong as part of the “pizzagate” conspiracy. In handing down thatdefendant’s four-year sentence, Brown said: “I am truly sorry you find yourself in the position you are in, because you do seem like a nice person who in your own mind was trying to do the right thing. But that does not excuse reckless conduct and the real damage that it caused.”
And in 2019, she ruled against the Trump administration in a dispute over Democratic lawmakers' efforts to subpoena former White House counsel Don McGahn’s testimony before Congress, saying in her opinion that “Presidents are not kings,” per the AP.
Jackson has also been vocal about her personal connection to law enforcement, having two uncles who served aspoliceofficers (one of whom became the police chief of Miami,TheWashingtonPostnotes).
Another uncle, she said in her nomination announcement, received a life sentence in 1989 for a nonviolent drug crime. He later received a sentence commutation from former PresidentBarack Obamaand died less than one year after his release at 78 years old, per theAmerican Bar Association Journal.
From left: Joe Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson.Drew Angerer/Getty
Some senators who have met with Jackson ahead of the hearings have extolled her breadth of experience. New Jersey Democrat Cory Bookercalled her nomination"a Jackie Robinson moment for our nation,” saying in a statement that he was “so impressed with Judge Jackson’s exemplary career, particularly her experience as a public defender — a deeply important role in our justice system that no one who’s ever served on the Supreme Court has experience doing.”
“This kind of occupational diversity is badly needed on our nation’s highest court, and helps root Judge Jackson in the reality that the Court’s decisions have on people’s lives — especially those without great wealth and privilege,” Booker said.
While she is a history-making nominee, Jackson isn’t expected to change the ideological balance of power on the court, which currently has a majority of conservative-leaning judges.
Her confirmation would, however, make her one of four women on the bench — the largest number of women ever on the Supreme Court at one time.
source: people.com
