A Supreme Hearing
Hearings have been held this week concerning the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
There is so much wrong with this situation, it’s hard to know where to start…and none of it has to do with the actual nominee.
First, you have the president saying he was only going to consider African-American women for the job…something you or I could not get away with if we were hiring someone.
Second, some of the questions have gotten into territory beyond what should be the scope of the proceeding. Granted, each of Donald Trump’s three nominees were subjected to some form of character assassination—the Brett Kavanaugh situation being the most outrageous. But do we expect every school board member to know every book in a school’s 13-year curriculum? One senator asking questions did.
Third, the nominee will get enough votes, and will be confirmed…so why go out of your way to try to score political points and burn political capital…especially when you don’t really have much supposedly juicy material to use against her?
There is clearly enough to ask about within a judge’s record to help determine judicial philosophy. That’s the point of hearings. But we haven’t really done that for 40 years, so why start now?
Credit Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn with asking a trap question…for the witness to define what a woman is. Judge Jackson said that was a question for biologists. But it’s also now a question for judges and justices, and she really couldn’t win with her answer…she’s catching flack for her response, understandably, because for the vast majority of Americans it’s an easy one to answer…but she would have lost many on the left by saying gender was based on characteristics of birth.
Yes, Republicans should ask tough but fair questions about rulings, interpretation, and temperament. But this is not a winning fight. Elections do have consequences, and this is one of them.
