On Thursday, the United States Senate will vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
According to Senate Republican Cloakroom staff, the vote to invoke cloture and thereby advance Jackson’s nomination has been scheduled for Thursday morning. If confirmed, Jackson will take the spot of outgoing Justice Stephen Breyer as President Joe Biden’s first nominee to the nation’s highest court.
As of Wednesday evening, three Republicans — Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) — will vote in favor of Jackson.
“After reviewing Judge Jackson’s record and testimony, I have concluded that she is a well-qualified jurist and a person of honor,” Romney said in a statement. “While I do not expect to agree with every decision she may make on the Court, I believe that she more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity. I congratulate Judge Jackson on her expected confirmation and look forward to her continued service to our nation.”
Jackson has garnered controversy during her nomination process due to her history of giving some criminals convicted of child pornography charges lighter sentences than those recommended by federal guidelines.
During Jackson’s confirmation hearings, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) used a white board to highlight her record on child pornography cases. In one example, Jackson gave a sentence of 28 months when a prosecutor was asking for 79-97 months. In another, a prosecutor asked for 24 months and Jackson imposed a three-month sentence.
“Every single case, 100% of them, when prosecutors came before you with child pornography cases, you sentenced the defenders to substantially below, not just the guidelines, which are way higher, but what the prosecutor asked for, on average, of these cases, 47.2% less,” Cruz said.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) also asked Jackson if she could define the term “woman.”
“Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Blackburn inquired.
“Can I provide a definition?” Jackson repeated the question.
“Mmhmm, yeah,” Blackburn confirmed.
“I can’t,” Jackson replied.
“You can’t?” Blackburn asked.
“Not — in this context, I’m not a biologist,” Jackson laughed.
“So you believe the meaning of the word ‘woman’ is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a definition?” Blackburn continued to press.
“Senator, in my work as a judge, what I do is I address disputes,” Jackson pushed back, suggesting that she could only provide a decision based on arguments and the law. “If there is a dispute about a definition, people make arguments and I look at the law and I decide, so — I’m not —”
“The fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about,” Blackburn continued.