The week of March 21, 2022, current United States judge, Ketanji Brown Jackson, underwent four grueling days of confirmation hearings in the constitutional process of becoming the next Supreme Court justice. In the 22 hours of questioning, it became ever-so-clear that alongside other democratic processes in America, this one has also become highly partisan.
First off, let’s start with emphasizing how important this nomination process is to American history. Ketanji Brown Jackson will not only become the 116th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, but the first ever Black woman to do so. Alongside her historic title, KBJ’s astute record of judicial achievements must also be celebrated and acknowledged.
While her record has numerous achievements that should’ve been mentioned, it was apparent that the direction of the hearings and the line of questioning were designed for the political game — mirroring the hearings of both Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. It seems that the congressional tradition of removing partisan lines from judicial nominees have seemingly become dismal. The focus of the lines of questioning from the Republican party focused on “hot” topics such as critical race theory and affirmative action, or rather vague questions such as what it means to be a “woman” from Senator Blackburn. On her final day of questioning, Ted Cruz asked her if she believed that “babies were racist” in relation to her stance on critical race theory.
Key Details
- Midterm Elections. Both the GOP and Democrats made it clear that part of the media coverage used during this confirmation hearing would be dedicated to reaffirming their platforms and partisan issues to the American public. The Democrats attempted to reestablish their support for the policies and utilized Jackson’s record to do so. The Republicans chose to use Jackson’s record to invoke language of“dangerous liberalism” in the country.
- Although she is confirmed, KBJ will not take judicial oath until Justice Breyer’s work is done. And will most likely take the bench in October of this fall. She also has stepped down from her current position as U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Court (one that Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had voted her to).
The Republican line of questioning was definitively hostile as they chose to focus on a few singular cases of child sex abusers. In particular, Senator Lindsey Graham and Josh Hawley attempted to establish a pattern of leniency in her sentencing of these abusers, to which she responded, “I made sure that the victims, the children’s perspectives, were represented, and I also imposed prison terms and significant supervision and other restrictions on these defendants”. The Democrats rebutted, noting that these sentences by judges were commonly under the guidelines.
Topics that usually do not enter the judicial sector such as religion were also asked of her. Senator Blackburn even asked for Jackson’s definition of the word “woman” in relation to her religion.
Nonetheless, on April 7th, 2022, the Senate confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson with a 53-47 vote. However, that does not discount what the actions of the Senators and legislative rulings have come clear. It seems that the highly partisan nature of our democracy has indeed bled into our judicial branch. Congressional rules and mannerisms were thrown out the window as senators such as Senator Lindsey Graham blatantly rejected the time limit allotted. Senator Patrick J. Leahy even stated that he had not seen the level of disrespect shown to Judge Jackson in his 48 years in the chamber.
It is quite unfortunate that such a momentous decision in history has been overshadowed with news headlines of critical language of Jackson. But, we must not overlook the success of having such a well-qualified woman who the American public overwhelmingly supports – and hope that more respect will be shown in the future.