Senators grill Jackson over record on third day of confirmation hearing

FAN Editor

Washington — Senators had their second – and final – chance to question Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Wednesday, the third day of her confirmation hearing. 

Republicans continued lines of questioning on Wednesday regarding Jackson’s handling of child pornography cases during her time as a federal judge in a U.S. district court and Jackson again defended her record, explaining her approach to cases and rebutting suggestions that she imposed lenient sentences.

Ten of the 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee requested access to pre-sentencing reports that are prepared by a defendants’ probation officer and given to a judge before sentencing. The reports are filed under seal, as they contain highly sensitive information, including information about victims. 

Jackson repeatedly told senators they did not have access to all the filings that informed her sentencing decisions. The request prompted sparring between Republicans and Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin, who said he opposed GOP members’ request to see the pre-sentencing reports in the roughly seven cases they raised.

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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson arrives to testify on her nomination to become an associate justice of the Supreme Court during the third day of her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2022. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

“The information contained in these reports is dangerous, dangerous to the victims, and to the innocent people who are mentioned in these reports and unnecessary at this point,” Durbin said. “It’s merely a fishing expedition in dangerous territory. Classified settings, redacted versions of the reports, this has never happened in the history of this committee.”

Jackson, a Harvard graduate, said that if confirmed, she would recuse herself from the case next term over Harvard’s admissions policies. She currently serves on the Board of Overseers, and has faced calls to recuse herself in this case.

Democrats, meanwhile, continued their praise of Jackson, 51, who would be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Democratic Senator Cory Booker, who is also Black, emotionally recounted how much it meant to him to see a Black woman on the court.Jackson appeared to wipe her eyes while he spoke.

“I’m sorry, you’re a person that is so much more than your race and gender,” Booker said. “You’re a Christian, you’re a mom, you’re an intellect, you love books. But for me, I’m sorry, it’s hard for me not to look at you and not see my mom, not to see my cousins, one of them who had to come here and sit behind you. She had to have your back. I see my ancestors in yours. Nobody’s going to steal the joy of that woman in the street, or the calls that I’m getting, or the texts. Nobody’s gonna steal that joy.”  

The hearings will continue for the fourth and final day on Thursday, which will include testimony from the American Bar Association and outside witnesses. 

President Biden nominated Jackson last month to replace liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who, at 83, is the oldest justice on the Supreme Court. Breyer will retire at the end of this term. 

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