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A marathon day is ahead for Supreme1 Court nominee2 Ketanji Brown Jackson
President Biden's Supreme Court nominee appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions from lawmakers in her bid to become the first Black woman on the nation's high court.
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
A marathon day is ahead for President Biden's Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson is expected to spend about 12 hours fielding questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In her opening remarks to lawmakers, Jackson pledged to be independent.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON: I decide cases from a neutral posture4. I evaluate the facts. And I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me without fear or favor.
MARTINEZ: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has been covering the hearing. Carrie, so what are Democrats5 emphasizing about Judge Jackson and her record?
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE6: There's a real focus on the trailblazing nature of this nomination7. Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois pointed8 out that 115 people have sat on the Supreme Court. But Judge Jackson would be the first Black woman. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey9 couldn't contain how happy he was at the sight of Judge Jackson, her parents, her husband, their two daughters. All of them, except for the daughters, really seemed to be on the verge10 of tears at different points Monday. Here's more from Senator Booker.
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CORY BOOKER: It's a sign that we as a country are continuing to rise to our collective cherished, highest ideals. I just feel this sense of overwhelming joy as I see you sitting there, as I see your family sitting behind you.
MARTINEZ: Now, Jackson's been on the bench for nearly a decade. What kind of clues about how she would rule on the court did you find in her past decisions?
JOHNSON: Well, she's ruled both for and against the government in different cases. There have been almost 600 of them in that tenure11. In one high-profile dispute, she said, presidents are not kings. She said former President Trump12's White House counsel did have to appear before Congress to testify about possible obstruction13 of justice. In another case, Judge Jackson turned back a challenge from environmental groups and allowed the Trump administration to proceed with building parts of a wall along the southwest border. Earlier in her career, Jackson was a public defender14. She handled appeals for people too poor to afford a lawyer, including a detainee at Guantanamo Bay. She also worked on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets federal policies.
MARTINEZ: The U.S. Sentencing Commission. That's where Republican senators have focused some of their harshest criticism. What are we likely to hear on that today?
JOHNSON: We're going to hear a lot about that, I think. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri unleashed15 an argument that Judge Jackson has been too soft on crime, too soft on defendants16 in several child pornography cases. Here's what he said.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOSH HAWLEY: What concerns me - and I've been very candid17 about this - is that in every case, in each of these seven, Judge Jackson handed down a lenient18 sentence that was below what the federal guidelines recommended and below what prosecutors19 requested. And so I think there's a lot to talk about there. And I look forward to talking about it.
JOHNSON: Hawley's going to dive deeper today. He got some support from Senator Lindsey Graham, who called that issue fair game. But other conservative lawyers say the attack on Judge Jackson is misleading. Andrew McCarthy, who wrote in the National Review, said it was meritless to the point of demagoguery because Josh Hawley, he says, is not distinguishing between the people who produce child pornography and the people who share it online. Now, many legal experts and most federal judges think the penalties for distribution are too harsh. They tend to sentence just the way Judge Jackson did, according to data from the Sentencing Commission.
MARTINEZ: Now, Carrie, I'll admit I'm waiting to see how hot the room gets today, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
MARTINEZ: It's Day 2, after all. So what's the overall outlook, though, for Jackson's confirmation20?
JOHNSON: If all 50 Democrats in the Senate stick together, Jackson will be confirmed and make history. The White House had hoped for some bipartisan support, maybe three or four Republicans to cross the aisle21. It's just not clear how many she'll attract this time around.
MARTINEZ: That's NPR's Carrie Johnson. Carrie, thanks a lot.
JOHNSON: My pleasure.
1 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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2 nominee | |
n.被提名者;被任命者;被推荐者 | |
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3 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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4 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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5 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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6 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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7 nomination | |
n.提名,任命,提名权 | |
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8 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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9 jersey | |
n.运动衫 | |
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10 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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11 tenure | |
n.终身职位;任期;(土地)保有权,保有期 | |
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12 trump | |
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭 | |
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13 obstruction | |
n.阻塞,堵塞;障碍物 | |
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14 defender | |
n.保卫者,拥护者,辩护人 | |
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15 unleashed | |
v.把(感情、力量等)释放出来,发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 defendants | |
被告( defendant的名词复数 ) | |
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17 candid | |
adj.公正的,正直的;坦率的 | |
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18 lenient | |
adj.宽大的,仁慈的 | |
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19 prosecutors | |
检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 ); 告发人; 起诉人; 公诉人 | |
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20 confirmation | |
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
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21 aisle | |
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道 | |
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