The Supreme Court is the highest office a judge in the United States can hold. The members of the court hear cases related to the constitutionality of laws across the country. It is composed of nine judges who all had to go through rigorous background checks and vetting before being questioned by congress. Arguably the most attention is paid to the court when there are new justices being selected. Most recently justice Stephen Breyer has announced that he is retiring, opening his seat for a new candidate. The Biden administration is attempting to fill that seat with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, if confirmed, will be the first black woman to sit on the supreme court. She attended Harvard law school, relating her with many of her peers. But there are many things that set up as a new perspective for the supreme court, going to a public highschool, being a public defender, and being a district judge all set her apart from a majority of the other Judges. And while she is more than qualified for the position, some of those on the Senate Judiciary Committee seem to be focusing more on the fact that Jackson is a Black woman. Her nomination is a large step forward for the representation of Black women in positions of power; after Kamala Harris became Vice President, no Black women are in the Senate.
With Jacksons confirmation hearings, the public is paying close attention to what is said by her regarding how she will view and use the position, and what is asked by the Senators. Some of the questions asked by republican leadership seem to miss the mark of relevance to the situation, Jackson has replied to relevant questions with her broader view of topics, avoiding saying things that could lead her to prejudge any future cases. Senator Josh Hawley in his line of questioning even went as far as to accuse Jackson of being sympathetic to cases of child pornogrophy. When experts looked into it, they found that the statement was intentionally misleading, encouraging people to follow a QAnon rabbit hole that leads people to believe in far right conspiracy theories.
This blog post is part of the CIMA law group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA law group specializes in Immigration law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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