After four days of intense hearings before the Senate Legal Affairs Committee, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson seems well on her way to being confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States. She should become in a few weeks the first black woman to sit in this institution.
It was a campaign promise, obviously on the way to being kept. And for good reason, Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed by US President Joe Biden on February 25 to be the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court. So far, the American institution has only had two blacks – both men – Thurgood Marshall from 1967 to 1991, and Clarence Thomas since 1991.
This week, facing the senators responsible for evaluating her candidacy, the brilliant 51-year-old lawyer did not tremble.
Despite bursts of questions, often delicate and unprecedented, the magistrate was able to demonstrate her tenacity. But between the Republicans’ attacks, and in the face of Senator Cory Booker’s tribute, Ketanji Brown Jackson conceded a brief moment of emotion. “You are here because you deserve it,” said the chosen one, before adding affectionately: “you are so much more than your color or your gender (…) but I’m sorry, when I look at you, I see my mother or my cousin.
“You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.”
Senator Cory Booker offered Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson a respite from conservative attacks during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing, endorsing her candidacy in emotional terms.https://t.co/LBUOzMBIva pic.twitter.com/H2NHOsSB9H
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 24, 2022
“People will understand that the courts are like them, that we judges are like them,” said the one who should succeed Judge Stephen Breyer.
From mixed schools in Florida to the prestigious Harvard University, before a rich career as a lawyer then as a federal judge, and now at the gates of the Supreme Court, the career of Ketanji Brown Jackson is eloquent. Its presence in the temple of American law thus seems to be the logical continuation.
If the leader of the Republicans announced without surprise that he will vote once morest, the Democrats who have fifty votes will be able to dub the judge, if they remain united. The committee’s vote will take place on April 4.
