Following the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, President Joe Biden chose to follow through on at least one of his campaign promises: to nominate a Black woman to be Breyer’s successor in the Supreme Court. Of all the potential nominations that were initially on Biden’s radar, the woman he chose, Ketanji Brown Jackson, was an excellent choice given her numerous qualifications as a judge. During her questioning by the Senate, many noted their racially-coded language and lack of generally relevant questions about what she will do as a Justice. The reality is, regardless of what the Senate thinks of Jackson, she’s the woman for the job.
The nomination of Jackson has truly shown what a circus the American government has become. Although Jackson is incredibly qualified, her questioning was a waste of time thanks to Senators asking her about the content of childrens’ books or what she would do if she were “surprised” with a rape allegation in a similar vein to Justice Kavenaugh when he was being nominated. While Republicans are stewing and calling Jackson a “diversity hire,” there’s much more at play here.
It must be acknowledged that the United States has become so incredibly divided that even Supreme Court Justices, who are meant to be non-partisan, are expected to hold up the goals of either political party. The hyper-emphasis over the following centuries on what wing a Justice leans towards has become a gross power play that was put on display at Jackson’s questioning. Both Republicans and Democrats really only care about getting people who will support their agendas into the Supreme Court, despite the fact that the Judges are supposed to be impartial to either party.
This doesn’t help when this push to get someone they know opposes their ideas is set to be questioned, and this questioning is televised. Politicians want to put on a show for their supporters; this is especially obvious in the questions the Republicans asked Jackson, essentially saying “I support what you support” to the people that will vote for them, more than actually asking proper questions to Jackson. With midterm elections rapidly approaching, it’s unfortunate that Jackson’s worthiness was drowned out by ridiculous Republican noise.
Whoever Biden picked, Republicans would have had something bad to say. Their snide comments about Jackson being a “diversity hire” dismiss all the incredible achievements that she has under her belt; and yet, they won’t tear her down from being an obviously good choice for the Supreme Court. Though it will still be conservative-leaning, Jackson’s extensive accomplishments — more than several Justices’ combined — mean that she is more than likely to get in all the same. While it is a shame that American politics tried to cloud her professional history, Jackson very clearly will be the next Supreme Court Justice and will bring hope to Americans across the country.
