She could make history as the first Black woman to serve on the country's most powerful court.
Who is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Who is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I hope to inspire people to try to follow this path because I love this country,
00:08because I love the law, because I think it is important that we all invest in our future.
00:30It was my father who started me on this path. Some of my earliest memories
00:45are of him sitting at the kitchen table reading his law books.
00:53And it was after a debate tournament that took place at Harvard when she was in high school
00:58that she believed she could one day be a student there. There were those who
01:02told her she shouldn't set her sights too high, but she refused to accept limits.
01:18I was walking through the yard in the evening and a black woman I did not know
01:25was passing me and she leaned over as we crossed and said,
01:32persevere.
01:34Criminal defense lawyers perform a service and our system is exemplary throughout the world
02:02precisely because we ensure that people who are accused of crimes are treated fairly.
02:09As a judge who has to decide how to handle these cases,
02:14I know it's important to have arguments from both sides, to have competent counsel.
02:24Federal public defenders don't get to pick their clients. They have to represent
02:31whoever comes in and it's a service. I represented as an appellate defender some of those detainees.
02:42You may have read that I have one uncle who got caught up in the drug trade
02:48and received a life sentence. That is true. But law enforcement also runs in my family.
02:55In addition to my brother, I had two uncles who served decades as police officers.
03:01So
03:25my vote today does not resemble any caricature of a policymaker intent on
03:31freeing violent felons without authorization and against congressional will. Rather,
03:37it is well-supported and fully consistent with the Sentencing Reform Act,
03:42the Fair Sentencing Act, prior experience and common sense.
04:01And I've been serving in the District of Columbia, both as a trial judge and as an appellate judge,
04:09and we see some of the most politically contentious issues. My record demonstrates my impartiality.
04:21Today will be the fourth time that I've had the honor of appearing before this committee.
04:36Well, what I found, Sean, is a pattern here of treating sex offenders leniently.
04:40As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases,
04:47I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth.
04:52You imposed a sentence that matched the recommendation by either the prosecution
04:59or the probation office in most of the cases where you did that sentencing. Is that right?
05:08Do you have that in mind?
05:09Yes, Senators.
05:10Yes, Senators.
05:16It views every conflict as a racial conflict.
05:23Do you think that's an accurate way of viewing society in the world we live in?
05:26Senator, I don't think so, but I've never studied critical race theory,
05:32and I've never used it. It doesn't come up in the work that I do as a judge.
05:46You're a person that is so much more than your race and gender. You're a Christian. You're a
05:51mom. You're an intellect. You love books. But for me, I'm sorry. It's hard for me not to look
05:58at you and not see my mom. You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.