US Senate Addresses Nomination of First Black Woman to Supreme Court

On Monday, the United States Senate addresses the historic Supreme Court nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would become the first black woman to serve on the country's highest court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold four days of confirmation hearings, beginning this Monday, for this 51-year-old jurist, nominated by President Joe Biden.

Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominees have become a partisan battleground in recent years, between Republicans and Democrats.

“Every court appointment is meaningful because many issues are decided there,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

“In addition, many of these issues are burning social issues that move votes or motivate voters,” such as abortion or gun rights, Sabato told AFP.

Jackson was nominated to replace another liberal judge, Stephen Breyer, who is retiring at the age of 83.

His confirmation, Sabato said, will not completely change the composition of the court, dominated by a conservative majority of 6-3. “That alone decreases risks and should contribute to easier confirmation,” he said.

The Democrats, with a slight advantage, have the votes to confirm Jackson, a jurist graduated from prestigious Harvard University, who served as a federal public defender for indigent clients.

The 100-member Senate is divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has the vote of bankruptcy.

- "Base republicana" -

“Inevitably, a few Republican senators will attack Jackson on a wide variety of issues” because “they will play for the Republican base,” Sabato said.

But Jackson's credentials seem to open the way for him despite partisan grievances, the analyst said.

Even a number of moderate Republican senators voted just a year ago to confirm Jackson's bid for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Still, several Republican MPs have criticized Biden for keeping his election promise to choose an African-American woman to court.

“Black women are, what, six percent of America's population?” , said Senator Ted Cruz. “It's telling 94 percent of Americans 'I'm not interested in them. '”

Jackson, however, has impeccable credentials, so another Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, warned her colleagues to be careful.

“Since Democrats have unfortunately had some success trying to paint Republicans as anti-black, it may make it more difficult to reject a black jurist,” Collins said.

- “Alarming pattern” -

While a frontal attack on Jackson could backfire Republicans seven months after the mid-term congressional elections, Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri conservative, has been paving the way.

“I have noticed an alarming pattern in Jackson's handling of sex offenders, especially those who prey on children,” Hawley wrote in a series of tweets. “This is a disturbing record.”

His remarks aroused the reproach of the White House Undersecretary of Press, Andrew Bates.

“This is toxic and poorly presented misinformation that is based on taking elements of his record out of context,” Bates said, noting that Jackson has received support from several police unions, which tend to lean to the right.

For his part, Senator Mitch McConnell, leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, dismissed Jackson's experience as a public defender between 2005 and 2007, an aspect that has been touted by his supporters.

“President Biden is deliberately working to make the entire federal judiciary softer on crime,” McConnell said, an accusation Republicans are expected to use in the November election race.

If her nomination is confirmed, Jackson will be the third African-American to serve on the Supreme Court, but the first black woman.

Thurgood Marshall sat in court between 1967 and 1991, and was succeeded by Clarence Thomas, who remains in office.

Thomas, 73, was hospitalized on Friday for an infection but should soon be released from the hospital, the Supreme Court announced in a brief statement.

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