Ketanji Brown Jackson expected to be confirmed this week after bipartisan procedural
After the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-11, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for a vote to break the deadlock and send her nomination to the floor. Every Democrat and three Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — voted in support of Jackson.
“Justice Jackson will bring to the Supreme Court, the highest level of skill, integrity, civility and grace,” said Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee chairman, in explaining his support for her on Monday. “This committee’s action today is nothing less than making history. I’m honored to be part of it.”
“My support rests on Judge Jackson’s qualifications, which no one questions; her demonstrated judicial independence; her demeanor and temperament; and the important perspective she would bring to the court as a replacement for Justice Breyer,” said Murkowski on Monday. “It also rests on my rejection of the corrosive politicization of the review process for Supreme Court nominees, which, on both sides of the aisle, is growing worse and more detached from reality by the year.”
Some GOP senators said on Monday they were not swayed by Jackson’s assertion that she does not have a judicial philosophy per se but instead a methodology that ensures she rules impartially.
“The judge must call balls and strikes,” said Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn, alluding to Chief Justice John Roberts’ metaphor comparing a judge to an umpire. “And given what I’ve seen, and her unwillingness to disclose her judicial philosophy, and disavow an expansionist view of unenumerated rights, I have concerns that Judge Jackson will be pinch hitting for one team or the other.”
Other Republican senators portrayed Jackson as a pawn of the “radical left.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said he believed “she will prove to be the most extreme and the furthest-left justice ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court.” Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said Jackson would “coddle criminals and terrorists.” And Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley lambasted her sentencing decisions in some child pornography cases.
Democrats said that some Republicans were fear-mongering and cherry-picking cases, noting she authored over 550 cases in her eight years as a district judge and had already been confirmed by the Senate to three prior positions. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said that Jackson “had the very low reversal rate of only 2%.” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the GOP had engaged in “meritless demagoguery” and “concocted outrage.” And New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker noted Jackson’s support from law enforcement groups, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police, and those advocating for victims like the National Children’s Alliance.
Graham, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said that while Jackson exhibits “exceptionally good character,” she was too lenient in sentencing those cases and had an “activist zeal” in calling former President George W. Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld war criminals in legal briefs as she advocated for a detainee.
“My decision is based upon her record of judicial activism, flawed sentencing methodology regarding child pornography cases and a belief Judge Jackson will not be deterred by the plain meaning of the law when it comes to liberal causes,” said Graham.
Durbin refuted Graham on both issues on the Senate floor last week, calling Jackson “in the mainstream of sentencing” of child pornography cases and saying Republicans have also voted for President Donald Trump’s judges who “do exactly the same thing she does.” He said it was a…
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