We had to wait a long time for this, but it’s finally our turn to get a Supreme Court nominee confirmed!
Take Action
First and foremost, be sure to call both of your senators this week (contact info here) and tell them that you expect them to vote Yes to confirm her to the Supreme Court. You can also use this handy online tool from Everytown to send them your request if you don’t like making phone calls.
Get to Know KBJ
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s qualifications are stellar. Here’s some facts you should know:
- She graduated from a public high school, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard for her undergraduate degree, and cum laude from Harvard Law.
- Currently she serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. For 8 years prior to that, she served as a federal trial court judge.
- She’s been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to 3 other federal judgeships. Over the course of those prior confirmations, she earned Yes votes from 27 Republican senators. (Full list here.)
- She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
- Prior to becoming a judge, she served as a public defender and also in private law firms.
- She served as vice chairman of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, where she earned a reputation for building consensus. Most of the panel’s decisions were unanimous.
- One of her uncles is a former Miami police chief, while another was a sex crimes detective. Her younger brother was a Baltimore police undercover agent.
- She’s been endorsed by both liberal and conservative organizations, including the National Fraternal Order of Police, U.S. Black Chambers, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and 83 former GOP and Democratic state attorneys general.
- The American Bar Association rated her “well qualified” for the Supreme Court, which is their highest rating.
Read more: 55 Facts about Ketanji Brown Jackson
The Hearings
On Monday, the Judiciary Committee, led by Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL), started the official hearings which were prepared statements by each member of the Committee and Judge Jackson herself. You can read her opening statement HERE.
Today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday), members of the Committee will begin questioning her. Each member will have 30 minutes. After that, if anyone still has questions, they’ll do a second round (only 20 minutes per person), and if needed a third round of questions (only 10 minutes per person).
Judge Jackson will not appear on Thursday, as the Committee will only hear from outside witnesses and the American Bar Association.
After that, the Judiciary Committee will hold a vote, likely within a week or so of the hearings.
Amplify the Positive
For those of you who use social media, it’s incredibly important to keep pushing out positive information about Judge Jackson. As you can see, there’s plenty to talk about. But, we also know some Republicans (particularly those with presidential aspirations) will use their questions to try to create “gotcha” moments that are perfect for Fox News and right-wing media.
I know it’s tempting to “yell” at the GOP online and point out their hypocrisy, but the fact remains that if we’re talking about THEIR narrative, they win. We want the focus to be on Judge Jackson and her impeccable qualifications.
So join me in celebrating this historic and well-deserved nomination by spreading this information and getting Judge Jackson confirmed to the Supreme Court!
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Originally posted on Political Charge. Reposted with minor edits and permission.