President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, began her confirmation hearings on Monday by addressing senators.
She told lawmakers that she would remain neutral when deciding cases if confirmed to the highest court in the land.
“I decide cases from neutral posture,” Jackson told the U.S. Senate Committee. “I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath.”
The committee, made up of eleven Democratic and eleven Republican senators, provided opening statements on Monday before day-long hearings to question Jackson set for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Democratic committee members lauded the President’s Supreme Court nominee. They vowed to fast-track the process of confirming her nomination by Easter.
But Republicans promised tough questions over the course of the two days, particularly regarding her record on criminal justice.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) vowed to ask Jackson about issues of free speech, religious liberty, gun rights, abortion, and crime in the coming days. Cruz sought to tie Jackson to the political movements that resulted from the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.
“Part of the Democratic effort to abolish the police is nominating justices that consistently side with violent criminals, release violent criminals, [and] refuse to enforce the law, and that results in jeopardizing innocent civilians. All those questions are fair game,” he said.
The Senate is split 50-50 among the two parties. However, Vice President Kamala Harris serves as the tie-breaking vote, all but ensuring Jackson will be confirmed.
Jackson will take the place of outgoing liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who is retiring this summer. Her confirmation will not alter the current balance of the court, which currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.
If confirmed, Jackson will become only the third black Justice in American history, joining Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and the first black woman to ever serve in the Supreme Court.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), congratulated Jackson for being the first black female nominee and gave a brief history lesson of the Supreme Court’s demographic makeup over time.
Durbin pointed out that in the history of the Supreme Court, 108 appointees have been white men, only two have been men of color, and there has been just one woman of color to hold a seat on the high court.
“Not a single Justice has been a black woman,” Durbin said. “You, Judge Jackson, can be the first.”
“It’s not easy being the first. You have to be the best and in some ways the brightest,” Durbin added. “Your presence here today and your willingness to brave this process will give inspiration to millions of women who see themselves in you.”
Durbin then read off Jackson’s long resume, from high school debate champion to Harvard Law School graduate to federal district judge to — since 2021 — member of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, often referred to as the second-highest court in the country.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) was one of three Republicans who voted to confirm Jackson to her current position on the D.C. Court of Appeals. However, he indicated that this time his vote was uncertain.
Graham suggested that if Republicans grilled Jackson as hard as Democrats grill Republican nominees, they could be portrayed as racist.
“It’s about ‘We’re all racists if we ask hard questions.’ That’s not gonna fly with us. We’re used to it by now,” Graham said.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the most senior Republican on the committee, said his party would not turn Jackson’s hearings “into a spectacle.” He vowed to treat the nominee with respect but still ask “tough questions about [her] judicial philosophy.”
Grassley said Republicans would question Jackson on her two-year stint as a public defender in D.C. from 2005 to 2007. He claimed it was only fair to probe “criminal defense lawyers who disagree with our criminal laws and want to undermine laws that they have policy disagreements with.”
Democrats sought to defend Jackson from Republican criticism of her record on crime by pointing out that she also served as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Congress created the Sentencing Commission in 1984 to reduce sentencing disparities in federal courts.
Durbin also pushed back against potential attacks by Republicans on Jackson’s stance on crime, claiming allegations that Jackson is “soft on crime” are “baseless.” He suggested that critics look at her record, noting it had already been “scoured by this committee” when confirming the judge for previous positions.
On Friday, the American Bar Association, which evaluates U.S. judicial nominees, gave Jackson a unanimous “well qualified” rating.
