Here Are 5 Things To Know After The First Day Of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation Hearing

Well before it was announced who would be named as Biden’s coveted pick for the Supreme Court, the idea of a Black woman as the only option for the President, sent the Republican party into a spiral. Leading up to Brown Jackson’s confirmation, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he planned to question Judge Brown Jackson about her record when it comes to sentencing those convicted in child pornography cases. In a lengthy series of tweets last week, Hawley shared that he had discovered an “alarming pattern when it comes to Judge Jackson’s treatment of sex offenders, especially those preying on children.” During his opening statement, Hawley pointed to seven cases in which Jackson gave sentences that were more lenient than what prosecutors had sought. However, according to The Washington Post, Hawley, conveniently did not make a distinction between offenders who possessed child pornography and those who produced it or those who committed rape or assault.

If confirmed, Jackson will not only hold the historic title as first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court, but she will also be amongst the few fastest appointments in recent years. If successful, Jackson could be confirmed in 51 days. Generally, from the President’s announcement to the hearings, to the final vote, the process can last several weeks. By comparison, once President Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee, she was confirmed in 72 days. Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed in 106 days following President George G.H. Bush’s nomination. Justice John Paul Stevens was confirmed in 19 days by President Ford and Justice Amy Coney Barrett was as confirmed in 30 days by Trump.

The criticism of Jackson from the right has ranged from whether she’s qualified and if she has been “too soft on crime.” During the hearing, Republicans added Jackson’s ability to be neutral to their list of concerns, she believes judges must consider Critical Race Theory when deciding how to sentence criminal defendants. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked, “Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into our legal system?” Jackson seeming addressed the concerns in her opening remarks. “I have been a judge for nearly a decade now, and I take that responsibility and my duty to be independent very seriously,” Jackson said. “I decide cases from a neutral posture.” She continued “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.”

Jackson first mentioned Judge Constance Baker Motley in her February speech accepting President Biden’s nomination. She followed up again, after thanking family, friends, colleagues, law clerks, and mentors. She also noted that “I stand on the shoulders of so many who have come before me, including, who was the first African American woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom I share a birthday.” Constance Baker Motley was a ground-breaking attorney born in 1921. Motley helped litigate Brown v. Board of Education, one of the most important cases in American constitutional law; she desegregated schools and universities in the South; she represented Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham; and she won nine of the 10 cases she argued before the Supreme Court. Jackson ended with, “And like Judge Motley, I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building — ‘Equal justice under law’— are a reality and not just an ideal.”