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Black America Responds To Ketanji Brown Jackson’s First 2 Days Of Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings

Black America Responds To Ketanji Brown Jackson’s First 2 Days Of Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings

Ketanji Brown Jackson

PHOTO: Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to be nominated for associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, is entering her third day of confirmation hearings with the Senate Judiciary Committee.

There’s been no shortage of contentious questioning from Republican senators, several of whom have attempted to paint Jackson as having a questionable record with her rulings.

Despite being confirmed by the Senate three times prior to her SCOTUS nomination for other judicial posts, Jackson has been drilled about everything from whether her judicial philosophy embraces originalism or pragmatism and her thoughts on packing the court to whether she believes in the history recorded in “The 1619 Project” and is a proponent of critical race theory (CRT).

Republican Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were among the most prominent leaders with egregious lines of questioning for Jackson, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals judge about her judicial philosophy and stance on CRT, respectively.

Jackson answered most of the questions calmly and humbly, but there were moments when she paused before speaking in a seeming effort to stay composed.

“I decide cases from a neutral posture,” Jackson said. “I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath.”

Judge Jackson serves on the board of trustees of an elite private Washington, D.C., high school, Georgetown Day School.

Cruz, who blew up photos from Ibram Kendi’s book, “Antiracist Baby,” asked Jackson if she believed babies were racist and if she thought Kendi’s book and others that contained information about CRT should have been in the library of Georgetown Day School, where he said he found them.

“Senator, I do not believe that any child should be made to think that any child is racist or less than,” Jackson said, after a pause. She went on to explain that as a board member, she doesn’t set the school’s curriculum and the school is a private school, while the debate has been about public schools.

“It [CRT] doesn’t come up in my work as it’s never something that I have studied or relied on, and it wouldn’t be something that I would rely on if I was on the Supreme Court,” Jackson continued.

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Republicans also accused Jackson of having a secret agenda, being too lenient on child sex offenders and calling President George W. Bush a war criminal, a claim that has been debunked as taken out of context.

She was also asked by Sen. Marsha Blackburn if she would “respect” the Supreme Court’s rulings in cases like abortion rights or try and tilt the court in a progressive direction.

Those are just some of the litany of issues addressed thus far during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings.

Black America has been watching closely and here’s how some responded on Twitter.

“A quick [note emoji] on Ketanji Brown Jackson & ‘representation.’ Many discussions note she’s a Black woman. But there’s more! KBJ is dark-skinned, wears her hair in braids, is named Ketanji, is child of two Black parents born in US, etc. This all affects perceptions of her Blackness,” political science professor Hakeem Jefferson wrote in a Twitter thread.

https://twitter.com/hakeemjefferson/status/1506077817242497028?s=21

“It has also likely affected how she has thought about her place and position in the professional and political world,” Jefferson continued. “Given the expectations of the legal profession and her movement in various spaces where her qualifications are never assumed, her aesthetic choices are political.”

“Good morning and Happy Hump Day to everyone who is convinced after watching Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the past few days that she is a bazillion times more qualified that the last 3 GOP Supreme Court candidates COMBINED,” author Majid M Padellan wrote.

Others weren’t so impressed.

“In 7 cases #KetanjiBrownJackson consistently gave the lightest lowest sentences to guilty child porn and child sexual abuse porn offenders,” @infosavant tweeted. “Below the federal guidelines? Why?”

“This is sick as hell,” @majornija captioned a clip she tweeted of Jackson explaining why she sentenced in certain ways in child pornography cases.

Some came to Jackson’s defense.

“I am convinced black people just love to go after black people because they think any association with a white personal makes them a traitor,” @The_MightyLeo wrote in response. “What she said makes COMPLETE sense if you simply understand law. She is NOT arguing for lighter sentences.”

“She is talking about how the laws are no longer compatible or applicable to the types of offenses happening now,” @The_MightyLeo continued in a follow-up tweet. “So the interpretation of the laws based off crimes that did not exist (ie digital vs paper) makes the lvl of sentencing inappropriate. She is not defending them.”

Context Media owner Torraine Walker asked what Jackson’s appointment would do to advance a Black agenda.

“I have no doubt that Ketanji Brown Jackson is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. My question is, how will that benefit US?” Walker asked.

Others compared Judge Jackson to SCOTUS justices appointed by former President Donald Trump.

PHOTO: Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)