A top lawyer group said that it had reviewed her and found that she has a “sterling”, “exceptional,” reputation and is well-qualified to sit on the Supreme Court.
After two days of questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the testimony of the American Bar Association as well as other experts concluded about 30 hours worth of hearings on Jackson’s nomination. Republicans questioned Jackson about her federal judge record, her sentencing decisions, as she strives to be the first Black woman at the nation’s highest judiciary.
Ann Claire Williams, chairperson of the American Bar Association’s committee that recommends federal judges, stated, “Outstanding,” excellent, superior and superb. “These are the comments of virtually all those we interviewed.”
Williams stated that the group had spoken to over 250 lawyers and judges about Jackson. “The question that we kept asking ourselves was: How can one human being be so exceptional well?”
Democrats hope to win bipartisan support for President Joe Biden’s historic nominee. But Republicans portray Jackson as being soft on crime during her nine years of service on the federal bench. Jackson, who was supported by the committee Democrats, challenged the GOP narrative in over 22 hours of questioning. She explained the sentencing process in depth and told them that “nothing could have been further from the truth.”
The last, four-hour hearing on Thursday featured not just legal experts but also government officials and representatives of civil rights groups who supported Jackson as well as conservative advocates who were against her.
The minority invited Steven Marshall, Alabama Attorney General, to testify. Marshall stated that Jackson’s supporters refer to her as a voice of the vulnerable, but she said “we should be curious in exploring whether her zeal for victims of violence is equally passionate for another class of our most vulnerable.”
Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, was the chairman of the committee. Durbin noted that some Republican senators believed Jackson was outside the mainstream when it came to sentencing. Durbin asked the ABA if such a concern would have been raised in interviews with Jackson’s lawyers and judges.
Williams stated that Williams had never mentioned it in interviews.
Joseph Drayton, another member on the ABA committee said Jackson’s “stellar” reputation.
Democrats attempted to paint Marshall as being out of the mainstream by asking him about his attempts to reverse Biden’s victory in 2020. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked Marshall if Biden was the “duly elected president”. Marshall, who supported a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s defeat, would only confirm that Biden was president. That suit was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The Senate committee will vote on Jackson’s nomination in April 4. The Democrats hope to hold a final confirmation vote before Easter, when the Senate departs Washington for a two week break.
Democratic praise and reflections on the historic nature her nomination received a positive response to the GOP criticism. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker was the most captivating, using his time to not ask questions but to speak and draw tearful from Jackson.
Booker, who is Black, stated that he can see “my ancestors” and “yours” when he gazes at her. He said, “I understand what it took for you to sit here at this table.” “You’ve earned this place.”
Jackson, whose family was behind her, was quiet as Booker spoke, but tears began to roll down her face.
Jackson, who had received similar praises from Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), was again in tears. She responded that she hopes she can be an inspiration because she loves this country because she loves the law.
Republican senators aggressively interrogated Jackson about the sentences she handed to child pornography offender in her nine-year tenure as a federal judge, her legal advocacy for Guantanamo Bay terrorist suspects, and her views on critical race theory and religious beliefs.
Sentences were a part of a wider effort by several potential presidential candidates, including the Republicans on the committee, to describe Jackson’s record and her judicial philosophy as too soft on the most serious criminals. This was also indicative of the growing emphasis on crime in GOP’s midterm elections.
Senator Thom Tillis, R.N.C., said to Jackson that she appeared like a “very kind person” but that there was at least “some level of empathy that enters your treatment of a suspect that some might view as perhaps beyond what some of our comfort with, in respect to administering justice.”
Jackson stated that she bases her sentences on many factors and not just federal guidelines. Jackson said that sentencing is not a “numbers-game”, noting that there are not mandatory sentences for sex offenders, and that there has been a lot of debate about the subject.
She said that some of the cases gave her nightmares and were “among my worst ever seen.”
Durbin opened Thursday’s hearing by thanking all Republicans on the committee. However, he said that some of the attacks against the judge were unfair and unrelenting, and below the dignity of United States Senate.
Jackson’s record was the focus of much of the attention. This suggests that Jackson’s confirmation vote in full Senate is unlikely, if at all, to win any Republican support. Several Republicans still acknowledged that Jackson is likely to serve on the court. Democrats can confirm her with no bipartisan support from the 50-50 Senate, as Vice President Kamala Harris is able to cast the tiebreaking vote.
Biden nominated Jackson to the Supreme Court in February. This fulfilled a campaign promise to nominate a Black woman. She would replace Justice Stephen Breyer who announced in January that his retirement would be this summer.
Jackson would become the third Black justice after Thurgood Marshall, Clarence Thomas and Clarence Thomas and the sixth woman. Her confirmation would preserve the current conservative majority of 6-3 on the court.
She will also be the court’s first ex-public defender and the first justice to have experience representing indigent criminal defendants, since Marshall.
