US Senate Addresses Nomination of First Black Woman to Supreme Court

On Monday, the United States Senate began addressing 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 began four days of confirmation hearings for this 51-year-old jurist, nominated by President Joe Biden, who just before the start posted a tweet highlighting her “brilliant” mind and her “great character and integrity.”

“She deserves to be confirmed as the next Supreme Court judge,” she adds.

“I ask the members of this committee to, as we begin this historic confirmation process, to consider how history will judge each senator,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said during the opening.

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 in it,” and many are burning social issues that move votes or motivate voters,” such as abortion or gun rights, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

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

His confirmation, Sabato said, will not change the balance of forces 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 the 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,” but his credentials seem to open the way for him despite partisan grievances, Sabato 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 parliamentarians have criticized Biden for having elected a black woman to court, one of his campaign promises.

“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 walk carefully.

“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” -

A frontal attack on Jackson could be counterproductive for Republicans seven months before the mid-term congressional elections.

But Senator Josh Hawley, a conservative from Missouri, has done so, lashing out at what he considers “an alarming pattern” in how the judge has handled cases involving sex offenders, “especially those who prey on children.”

Those comments were criticized by White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates: “This is toxic and poorly presented misinformation that is based on taking elements of your record out of context.”

Bates highlighted 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.

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

Thurgood Marshall was a member of the court between 1967 and 1991 and was succeeded by Clarence Thomas, 73, who remains in the post, although he is currently hospitalized for infection.

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