WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Republicans yesterday 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.
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.
