(Washington) African-American magistrate Ketanji Brown Jackson vigorously defended herself on Tuesday against accusations of laxity by Republican elected officials during the examination of her historic candidacy for the Supreme Court.
Posted at 12:21 p.m.
“Nothing could be further from the truth”, she said, in response to attacks launched for several days by Senator Josh Hawley who accuses her of having, as a judge, imposed lower sentences to the scales in several child pornography cases.
These cases are “among the most difficult”, she continued, noting that the legal framework was imprecise, which leads to great disparities in sentences. But she assured that she had always made sure that “the voice of minor victims are represented” in her decisions.
Appointed by President Joe Biden, Judge Jackson, 51, must get the green light from the Senate before becoming the first black woman to sit on the high court.
Unless surprised, she should obtain sufficient votes during a vote in plenary session at the beginning of April and replace the progressive judge Stephen Breyer at the start of the school year.
According to a Politico-Morning Consult poll, 47% of Americans want it confirmed and only 19% oppose it.
Beyond the symbol, his arrival will not change the balance within the temple of American law, where the conservatives will retain a solid majority of six seats out of nine.
police brother
For all these reasons, Republicans have no intention of fighting hard to derail his candidacy. But, seven months before the midterm elections, they are using Judge Jackson’s hearing to resonate their campaign themes, starting with the rise in crime they blame on the laxity of the Democratic government.
In their opening statements on Monday, they attacked Judge Jackson for defending Guantanamo detainees or hardened criminals when she was a legal aid attorney in Washington from 2005 to 2007.
She for her part recalled Tuesday, in a calm voice, that she did not choose her clients and “did not approve” of their actions. But in the United States, every defendant has the right to a lawyer, she insisted: “this is what makes us great”.
For her, her exchanges with these criminals were “beneficial” for her work as a federal judge after 2013. Judge Jackson stressed that she took care to explain to them “the harm they caused” so that they could take their responsibilities and begin their rehabilitation work.
Flying to her rescue, the elected Democrats stressed that she had the support of police unions. “Members of my family are on the line of fire, so I am very attached to public safety,” she also stressed, recalling that her brother and two of her uncles are or were police officers.
“Leftists”
Saying he was “troubled” by the fact that several “leftist associations” support her candidacy, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham asked her if she was “activist”.
“No,” she retorted. “I do not import my personal views or my preferences” in my decisions, she hammered on several occasions.
On political subjects, in accordance with custom, she was evasive.
In particular, she refused to comment on the calls, made by several elected officials and left-wing associations, to create new seats within the Supreme Court to dilute the influence of conservative magistrates. “In my opinion, judges should not talk about politics. »