Barring an accident, she should become the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court within two weeks. After four days of a great oral intense but less controversial than that of judge Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson seems well on the way to being confirmed. On Friday, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who often tips the balance, announced that he would vote in favor of the candidate chosen by Joe Biden.
On Thursday, Republican boss Mitch McConnell said he would vote once morest Ketanji Brown Jackson’s “lifetime appointment” to the Supreme Court. However, she might still receive the support of undecided centrist Republicans like Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, or one of the future retirees like Roy Blunt or Rob Portman. With 50 votes out of 100 (plus Kamala Harris), the Democrats have no margin of safety. With support from Joe Manchin, all eyes are on Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema. She has yet to announce her decision, but she had voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as a judge in Washington.
” Model “
Pleasant but unwavering, the magistrate this week examining her candidacy for the Supreme Court of the United States with the acute awareness of being a “model” for African-Americans.
This brilliant 51-year-old lawyer was chosen at the end of February by Democratic President Joe Biden, who had promised during his campaign to appoint, for the first time in history, a black woman to the temple of American law.
“Since then, I have received so many messages, letters and photos from little girls from all over the country who have expressed their enthusiasm to me,” she reported during a marathon hearing in front of charged senators. to assess his candidacy. “Because I am a woman, a black woman, it means a lot to people…” Without insisting on the color of her skin, she paid tribute to all those who helped her get to this level to begin with. by his parents who, “to express their pride in their heritage and their hope for the future, (him) gave him an African name, Ketanji Onyika, meaning ”the charming one””.
Guantanamo and child pornography
Republicans, on the other hand, spent a lot of time scrutinizing her remarks when she represented Guantanamo detainees. Lindsey Graham asked her to explain why she called George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld “war criminals”. She kicked in touch, explaining not to remember the exact context but that she was in her role to defend her clients. Senator Josh Hawley accused her of being “soft on crime”, with sentences deemed too lenient, particularly in several cases of child pornography.
“How dare they say you are lax? Then choked out black senator Cory Booker, noting that Judge Jackson had the support of police unions and former prosecutors, and that several members of her family served in law enforcement. “You are here because you deserve it” and “No one will steal my joy!” “, he continued, in a flight that tore a tear from the magistrate. “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. »