Witnesses testify on final day of Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court hearings

Washington — The Senate Judiciary Committee convened Thursday for its fourth and final day of confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court, with testimony from outside experts and witnesses before senators concluded the grueling, multi-day session.

Jackson, 51, would be the first Black woman confirmed to the high court if approved by the Senate. She did not participate in the proceedings Thursday, but returned to Capitol Hill for additional one-on-one meetings with senators. The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on whether to advance Jackson's nomination to the full Senate on April 4, and Democratic leaders are aiming for her final confirmation vote by April 8, when they depart for a two-week recess.

Jackson fielded questions from senators for two marathon days of questioning on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Republicans pressing her to explain sentencing decisions in a number of child pornography cases during her time as a federal judge in a U.S. district court. Jackson repeatedly defended her record, explaining her approach to the law and rebutting suggestions that she imposed lenient sentences.

"Some of the attacks on this judge were unfair, unrelenting and beneath the dignity of the United States Senate," Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said at the start of the day's proceedings. "You can disagree with a senator's vote. You can disagree with a judge's ruling. But to draw conclusions that really reflect on them personally and their values and take it to the extreme is unfair whether the nominee is a Democrat or a Republican."

Thursday's hearing included testimony from three representatives from the American Bar Association (ABA) and panels of outside witnesses called by Democratic and Republican members.

The ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which evaluates the qualifications of all federal judicial nominees, unanimously rated Jackson as "well-qualified" to serve on the Supreme Court.

Ann Claire Williams, a retired federal judge and chair of the ABA committee, told the Judiciary panel that evaluators spoke with 250 judges and lawyers with firsthand experience working with Jackson. Some of the words used to describe here were "brilliant," "beyond reproach," "first-rate," "even-handed," and "impeccable," among others, she said.

"The question we kept asking ourselves was, how does one human being do much, so extraordinarily well?" Williams said.

Among the areas examined by the ABA officials was the notion she harbored a bias that favored criminal defendants, claims that dovetail with Republicans' attempts to paint Jackson as soft on crime.

"Notably, no judge, defense counsel or prosecutor expressed any concern in this regard, and they uniformly rejected any accusations of bias," Jean Veta, a member of the ABA panel, said.

On Wednesday, 10 of the 11 Republicans on the committee requested access to pre-sentencing reports that are prepared by a defendant's probation officer and given to a judge before sentencing. The reports are filed under seal, as they contain highly sensitive information, including information about victims. 

Jackson repeatedly told senators they did not have access to all the filings that informed her sentencing decisions. The request prompted sparring between Republicans and Durbin, who said he opposed GOP members' request to see the pre-sentencing reports in the roughly seven cases they raised.

"The information contained in these reports is dangerous, dangerous to the victims, and to the innocent people who are mentioned in these reports and unnecessary at this point," Durbin said. "It's merely a fishing expedition in dangerous territory. Classified settings, redacted versions of the reports, this has never happened in the history of this committee."

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, asked Thursday whether GOP members will have access to the reports.

"Innocent third parties are children who have been victimized," Durbin told Blackburn. "I'm sorry, senator, I'm not going to be party to that. I would not want that on my conscience that we did this for some political exercises here."

Jackson, a Harvard graduate, said that if confirmed, she would recuse herself from the case next term over Harvard's admissions policies. She currently serves on the Board of Overseers, and has faced calls to recuse herself in this case.

Democrats, meanwhile, continued their praise of Jackson on Wednesday. Democratic Senator Cory Booker, who is also Black, emotionally recounted how much it meant to him to see a Black woman on the court.Jackson appeared to wipe her eyes while he spoke.

"I'm sorry, you're a person that is so much more than your race and gender," Booker said. "You're a Christian, you're a mom, you're an intellect, you love books. But for me, I'm sorry, it's hard for me not to look at you and not see my mom, not to see my cousins, one of them who had to come here and sit behind you. She had to have your back. I see my ancestors in yours. Nobody's going to steal the joy of that woman in the street, or the calls that I'm getting, or the texts. Nobody's going to steal that joy."  

President Biden nominated Jackson last month to replace liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who, at 83, is the oldest justice on the Supreme Court. Breyer will retire at the end of this term.

Jackson's nomination is supported by law enforcement organizations including the Fraternal Organization of Police and National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, whose national president, Captain Frederick Thomas, told the committee she is a "stellar nominee with an extraordinary background."

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, also praised Jackson's credentials, testifying to the committee that they "read like a storybook for the perfectly prepared jurist to sit on the nation's highest court."