Barring an accident, she should become the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson took a further step towards the highest American judicial body on Monday, with a first procedural vote on her candidacy. The 51-year-old magistrate, appointed by President Joe Biden, is all but guaranteed to get the final green light from the Senate in a plenary vote, likely by the weekend.
All the elected representatives of the Democratic Party support her as well as at least three Republican senators, Susan Collins, joined by Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney, which guarantees a sufficient majority.
In the meantime, the elected officials of the judicial committee of the upper house, who heard her for more than 30 hours in March, spoke out, according to strict partisan lines (11 votes for, 11 once morest) on her file. This vote, which above all allows us to move on to the next stage, “is nothing short of historic”, estimated Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, who chairs this commission.
108 white men out of 115 judges
Of the 115 justices who have served on the Supreme Court, there have been only five women – four white and one Hispanic – and two black men. Beyond the symbol, the arrival of Judge Jackson, to replace the progressive Stephen Breyer, will not modify the balances within the high court, where the conservative judges will retain six seats out of nine.
Because of this low stake, elected Republicans have mainly used his hearing to resonate their campaign themes for the November elections, starting with crime, which they say is increasing because of Joe Biden’s “laxity”.
Echoing this thesis, they attacked the candidate on her record as a judge, accusing her of having pronounced light sentences in several cases of child pornography. On the contrary, the Democrats praised her qualifications – she is a graduate of the prestigious Harvard University, has experience in private and public, has been a lawyer and federal judge – and her calm and “empathetic” personality. Again on Monday, President Biden touted his “extraordinary qualifications”, his “extensive experience”, his “intellect”, and his “rigorous record as a judge”. “She deserves to be confirmed,” he tweeted.