U.S. Supreme Court nominee Jackson deflects Republican attacks
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[March 24, 2022]
By Moira Warburton, Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republicans on
Wednesday pressed their attacks on a range of issues against Ketanji
Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden's nominee to become the first Black
woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, as she inched closer to the end of an
intense two days of questioning with Democrats coming to her defense.
Jackson, who had remained even-tempered throughout marathon questioning
during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, showed
impatience over repeated questions posed by Republicans who accused her
of being too lenient as a judge in sentencing child pornography
offenders.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley again pressed her on one child
pornography case involving an 18-year-old defendant in which Jackson
imposed a three-month sentence. He asked her if she regretted the
sentence.
"Senator, what I regret is that during a hearing about my qualifications
to be a justice on the Supreme Court we've spent a lot of time focusing
on this small subset of my sentences," Jackson responded.
Jackson since last year has served as a federal appellate judge after
eight years as a federal district judge. She noted that she had
sentenced more than 100 people as a judge.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/24/images/ads/current/fcs_funeral_lda082613.png)
Democrats and sentencing experts have said Jackson's approach to child
pornography sentencing was similar to the vast majority of federal
judges.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who repeatedly interrupted Jackson as
she was trying to answer his questions, told her that "every judge who
does what you're doing is making it easier for these children to be
exploited."
"I know how serious these crimes are," Jackson said in her defense,
adding that her approach was to ensure "the most serious offenders get
the longest time."
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, the committee's chairman, pushed back on
Republican requests for more information on Jackson's child pornography
cases, saying the issue had already been debated in detail over two
days.
"There is an absurdity to this that is almost comical if it was not so
dangerous," Democratic Senator Cory Booker said of the Republican
attacks.
"You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American,"
Booker told Jackson, who could be seen wiping a tear from her eye.
So far, there is no sign that the Republican attacks are likely to
derail Jackson's confirmation, with Democrats narrowly controlling the
Senate. With a simple majority needed for confirmation and the Senate
divided 50-50 between the parties, she would get the job if Democrats
remain united regardless of how the Republicans vote.
HARVARD CASE
Under questioning from her former Harvard Law School classmate Senator
Ted Cruz, Jackson said that if confirmed to the lifetime job she planned
not to participate in a major Supreme Court case involving the
university because she serves on its board of overseers.
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![](../images/032422PIX/news_r37.jpg)
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson takes her seat as she arrives prior to
start of the third day of Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation
hearings on Judge Jackson's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, on
Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 23, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth
Frantz
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/24/images/ads/current/graue_21BLAZER_081621.png) The case, to be heard in the court's
next term that begins in October, involves a challenge to the
affirmative action admissions policy Harvard uses to increase its
number of Black and Hispanic students.
Her confirmation would not change the court's
ideological balance - it has a 6-3 conservative majority - but would
let Biden freshen its liberal bloc with a 51-year-old jurist young
enough to serve for decades. The Democratic president nominated
Jackson last month to the lifetime post to succeed retiring liberal
Justice Stephen Breyer.
Facing more long hours of often-antagonistic questioning during the
hearing's third day, she remained mostly unflappable, beginning most
responses with a polite, "Thank you, Senator."
Durbin praised Jackson for her poise and said some Republicans had
used the hearing as "an opportunity to showcase talking points for
the November election" when control of Congress is up for grabs,
including the argument that Democrats are "soft on crime."
"Well, you have made a mess of their stereotype," Durbin said,
pointing to the fact that she has been endorsed by various law
enforcement groups.
Republicans also have criticized her legal representation earlier in
her career of some detainees at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, and tried to link Jackson to activist groups on the left
and to "critical race theory," which argues American history and
institutions are infused with racial bias.
There are signs that not all Republican senators agree with
targeting Jackson's record on sentencing. Republican Senator Thom
Tillis said during the hearing he was "sympathetic to some of it,
not necessarily all of it" when describing claims made his
colleagues. Republican Senator Mitt Romney told the Washington Post
the attacks on Jackson were "off course."
Jackson's testimony is due to end on Wednesday, with outside experts
scheduled for Thursday's final day of the hearing.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/24/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif)
If confirmed, Jackson would be the 116th justice to serve on the
high court, the sixth woman and the third Black person. With Jackson
on the bench, the court for the first time would have four women and
two Black justices.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Moira Warburton and Andrew Chung;
Additional reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Will Dunham and
Scott Malone)
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