WASHINGTON — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday emphasized “my duty to be independent” if confirmed as the first black woman on the Supreme Court, as Republican senators almost immediately began previewing attack lines accusing her of being indulgent on matters of crime.
On the first day of her Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Judge Jackson sat largely in silence as 22 senators spoke at length about what they wanted in a candidate. Race wasn’t always an unspoken subtext, as South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham suggested that tough questions like racism would be criticized.
“We’re all racist if we ask difficult questions,” said Mr. Graham.
More than four hours after the hearing began, Judge Jackson, 51, cleared her throat, turned on her microphone and spoke for herself.
“If confirmed, I promise to work productively to support and defend the Constitution and this grand experiment of American democracy that has lasted for the past 246 years,” Judge Jackson, who is currently on the U.S. Court of Appeals sits. for the District of Columbia Circuit, said in opening remarks that lasted about 13 minutes.
“I’ve been a judge for almost ten years now and I take that responsibility and my duty to be independent very seriously,” she said. “I judge things from a neutral attitude. I evaluate the facts and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me without fear or favour, in accordance with my judicial oath.”
As the day began, several Democrats in the room celebrated her nomination.
Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who played no formal part in the proceedings, held up her phone to answer as New Jersey Senator Cory Booker spoke of the sheer joy he felt at a moment when he simply shouted, “No normal day for America.”
Among Republicans, there were early flashes of kindness: Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s senior Republican, pulled a seat for Judge Jackson just before the hearing began.
But that tone quickly faded as Republicans insisted that they would not personally attack Judge Jackson, while in the same breath accusing her of permissiveness toward child sexual abuse suspects and sex offenders. Several also suggested, without evidence, that she was affiliated with progressive groups interested in adding Supreme Court justices.
Democrats saw the offensive coming and tried to anticipate the criticism in their prepared remarks.
“These baseless allegations are unfair,” said Illinois Senator Richard J. Durbin, the committee chair, adding: “They go against promises made by my colleagues that they will approach your nomination with courtesy and respect. .”
The Senate approval of Judge Jackson would not change the court’s ideological balance. She is a former clerk for Justice Stephen G. Breyer, whose place she would take in the three-man Liberal wing of the court when he retires at the end of the current term. A review of a substantial sample of Judge Jackson’s roughly 500 judicial opinions suggests she would be about as liberal as Judge Breyer.
With Judge Jackson likely to be confirmed either with one or two Republican swing votes or with Democratic-only votes, Republicans are expected to use the hearings to draw public attention to cultural issues likely to be a flashpoint. in the midterm elections.
Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn predicted an attempt by her party to use the hearings as a venue to attack Judge Jackson and Democrats over such issues.
At one point, Mrs. Blackburn on “so-called white privilege” before questioning aloud to Judge Jackson if it was her hidden agenda to bring critical race theory into the legal system. (There is no evidence that this is the case.)
When she was finally able to speak, Judge Jackson seemed to isolate herself from Republican attempts to portray her as a leftist who might go too far.
“I know that my role as a judge is limited, that the Constitution only empowers me to decide cases and controversies that are duly presented,” Judge Jackson said, “and I know that my judicial role is further limited by careful adherence to precedent.”
In an apparent attempt to justify the harsh interrogations over the next few days, several Republicans, including Mr. Graham, seized on Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s explosive confirmation hearings in 2018 as an example of unfair treatment of a Supreme Court nominee, alleging that Judge Jackson was already gaining more respect and could expect a more civilized tone in four days of hearings this week.
During his hearings, Judge Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault decades ago by Christine Blasey Ford, an investigative psychologist, when they were both high school students in suburban Washington.
“There won’t be a constant attack on you like Judge Kavanaugh and other conservative judicial appointees,” said Mr. Graham, who said he had supported the nomination of another candidate, Judge J. Michelle Childs, over Judge Jackson.
“You are the beneficiaries of Republican nominees who have turned their lives upside down, and it didn’t work,” he added.
He made no mention of the battle over President Barack Obama’s 2016 nomination of Merrick B. Garland. Republicans refused to even give him a hearing pending who would win the presidential election.
Mr. Garland is now the Attorney General.
In their individual statements, the 11 Republicans on the committee also came up with the idea that Judge Jackson’s previous work as a public defender showed she was soft on crime and evidence of a broader effort by the Biden administration to install advocates of justice. of mediation of criminal convictions. Judge Jackson, who if confirmed would be the only Supreme Court judge with experience as a public defender, has been confirmed three times before by the Senate, a record she pointed out Monday.
On Monday, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, in his opening statement, revived allegations that Judge Jackson was accused of having imposed light sentences on child sex abuse suspects. It is a criticism that experts say is misleading and ignores a debate within the judicial community about mandatory criminal policy.
“All my professional experiences, including my work as a public defender and as a trial judge, have taught me the importance of every litigant knowing that the judge in their case has heard them, whether or not their arguments prevail in court. have. Judge Jackson said.
Judge Jackson told the commission that she was born the pride of two public school teachers who gave her an African name meaning “beautiful.”
The witness section of the audience sitting behind her was filled with black supporters, including White House officials, elected officials, family members and a handful of lawyers. Only a few wore masks and the atmosphere was festive.
To Judge Jackson’s right sat Dana Remus, the White House counsel who had guided her through near-daily preparatory sessions, often called homicide commissions, as the hearings drew closer. Ms. Remus sat next to former Alabama Senator Doug Jones, who served as Judge Jackson’s navigator during the interview process on Capitol Hill. He is expected to resume working with senators immediately after the hearings, said two people familiar with White House strategy.
During the hearing, Judge Jackson was flanked by her husband, Dr. Patrick Graves Jackson, who wiped tears as she read her statement, and her daughters, Leila and Talia.
“I fully admit that I haven’t always found the right balance,” she told her daughters, referring to balancing her life as a mother with her work as a lawyer. “But I hope you’ve seen that it can be done with hard work, determination and love.” The judge’s parents and brother were also nearby.
Janette McCarthy Wallace, the NAACP’s general counsel who attended the hearing and sat in the witness section, said she was “delighted” to be in the room where the history took place. She said she was willing to hear criticism from Republicans.
“I think they’re distracting from the fundamental fact that this is a person who is qualified to sit on this bench and who should be the next Supreme Court justice,” she said.
When asked what she expected to see during Judge Jackson’s hearing, Ms. McCarthy Wallace paused and then said, “Glare.”
Annie Karnic† Adam Liptak and Glenn Thrush reporting contributed.