Live updates: Ketanji Brown Jackson faces more questions on day 3 of Supreme Court hearings

After a day of Republicans repeatedly asking about child pornography cases and Democrats focusing on Jackson’s background, Sen. Cory Booker took a different route Wednesday as day three of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee neared an end.

The New Jersey Democrat used his time to talk about the burdens that Black women carry in society and how Jackson, who would be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, was his “harbinger of hope.”

He questioned why nobody brought up the child pornography cases before Jackson was confirmed on a bipartisan Senate vote last year, when she was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

“Did they not do their homework? Were they lax? Did they make a mistake?” Booker said. “I wonder — as they asked you the question, ‘do you regret’ — I wonder if they regret that.”

Booker also talked about being tackled, lovingly, on a run outside his Washington home by a Black woman who was inspired by Jackson’s hearings.

Jackson, for the first time in more than 21 hours of questioning, pulled a tissue out on her desk to wipe her eyes as Booker continued about how she had earned this spot and how hard she worked to earn it.

“I’m not letting anybody in the Senate steal my joy!” he exclaimed during his speech. “I just look at you, and I start getting full of emotion.”

Booker talked about his inspiration, Harriet Tubman, among other women who have paved the way for Black people. He mentioned how Jackson was also one of those people.

“Any one of us senators could yell as loud as we want that Venus [Williams] can’t return a serve. We could yell as loud as we want that Beyoncé can’t sing. We could yell as much as we want that astronaut Mae Jemison didn’t go all that high. But you know what?” Booker said, brushing his shoulder and eliciting a laugh from Jackson. “They’ve got nothing to prove.”

The Judiciary Committee will convene Monday in the afternoon to begin considering whether to advance Jackson’s nomination to the full Senate. On Thursday, it will hear outside testimony about her nomination in the last day of public hearings for the confirmation. The committee’s vote on the nomination is expected by Monday, April 4.

-- GILLIAN BRASSIL

Tillis commends Jackson

North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis finished the evening commending Jackson for how she handled herself over the past three days.

“I thought you presented yourself well when there was a lot of pressure and that demonstrates a certain temperament and poise,” Tillis said. “I can’t imagine what’s going on inside your head, but at least overtly, you did very well and you should be proud of that. It’s not an easy thing.”

Tillis asked Jackson a few follow-up questions about sentences she gave defendants that Republicans had felt were too low for the crime. Jackson told Tillis she didn’t want to answer specifics about her decisions without reviewing mitigating circumstances. He said he would submit that as a question for her to follow up on, but acknowledged that sentencing procedures are an issue that Congress also needs to address.

“I just want to commend you, your family, your daughter — who has been glowing every time you talk — and I appreciate your service,” Tillis said, before yielding back his remaining time.

-- DANIELLE BATTAGLIA

Jackson criticizes GOP focus on ‘small subset of my cases’

At the onset of an extended back-and-forth with Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Jackson chided Republican senators for focusing the bulk of their questions on a small handful of sentences she issued as a judge to child sex offenders.

“What I regret is that in my hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we have spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my cases,” Jackson said.

The comment reflects a broader frustration among Democrats, who say (along with some conservatives) that the GOP lawmakers are distorting the judge’s record on the issue. And indeed, some White House officials working to help Jackson win confirmation tweeted about the judge’s remarks, amplifying her point that she had sentenced more than a 100 offenders.

White House aides earlier this week suggested that Hawley’s line of questioning is meant to appeal to the conspiracy group QAnon.

The lawmaker from Missouri began criticizing Jackson’s sentences for child sex offenders last week, and the questions have emerged as a main line of criticism during the hearings this week.

-- ALEX ROARTY

Durbin brings down the gavel on Cruz

The loudest gavel bang of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings came as Sen. Ted Cruz aimed to ask Jackson about a sentencing she gave in a case involving child pornography.

Republican senators have repeatedly questioned Jackson about the length of her prison sentences in seven cases she heard about the child pornography, saying that she was too lenient. Jackson has repeatedly talked about the role of discretion in sentencing and called all of the acts of the defendants in these cases “heinous” and “egregious.”

For the second time Wednesday, a Republican senator and the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, sparred over whether they were allowing Jackson to answer questions on this front. Earlier, Durbin asked Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, to let Jackson answer questions on the same issue.

Multiple times throughout questioning, Cruz spoke over Jackson while she was attempting to talk about enhancements in sentences. In the middle of questioning, Durbin interrupted Cruz, R-Texas, asking him to allow Jackson to speak.

“I’ll say judge, there’s no point in responding — he’s going to interrupt you,” Durbin later addressed Jackson.

Citing Durbin’s interruption, Cruz aimed to extend his questioning beyond the allotted 20 minutes. Durbin cut him off and eventually banged his gavel so loud that Cruz responded, “you can bang it as loud as you want.”

“Apparently you are afraid of the American people hearing the answer,” Cruz said.

The next Republican to question Jackson struck a friendlier tone —and admonished some of his colleagues.

”I think we should recognize that the jackassery we often see around here is partly because of people mugging for short-term camera opportunities,” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said.

Sasse and Cruz are both viewed as potential 2024 presidential candidates.

-- GILLIAN BRASSIL

Jackson would recuse from Harvard racial discrimination case

Jackson said she plans on recusing herself from a racial discrimination case involving Harvard University and UNC-Chapel Hill if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Students for Fair Admissions is suing both universities for unfairly targeting Asian American applicants and disproportionately admitting Black and Hispanic students to their schools.

In January, the Supreme Court announced it would hear both cases together next term, making it one of the first Jackson might hear. Sen. Cruz asked her as an alumna of the school, who serves on its Board of Overseers, if she would recuse herself from the case.

“That is my plan, Senator,” Jackson said.

-- DANIELLE BATTAGLIA

White House knocks Hawley . . . again

Biden has been watching Jackson’s hearing, and he is impressed with her testimony, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters flying with the president to Europe for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit.

Jean-Pierre dismissed concerns from some Republican senators about Jackson’s record on child pornography and other issues. “We are focused on the full Senate,” Jean-Pierre said. “Our strategy doesn’t depend on Josh Hawley or any of the other senators who attacked her.”

Responding to a question about Jackson’s views on critical race theory, Jean-Pierre said the judge “applies the facts and the law when making decisions on the bench, not academic theory.”

-- FRANCESCA CHAMBERS

Former federal prosecutors from Florida endorse Jackson

Republicans are portraying Jackson as soft on crime, but 48 former federal prosecutors from Florida said in a letter to senators that she would bring a “unique and necessary perspective to the court.”

Jackson would be the first Black woman, first Floridian and first justice with experience as a public defender if confirmed by the full Senate.

Durbin entered the letter — first obtained by McClatchy — into the record on Wednesday afternoon at Jackson’s confirmation hearing.

-- BRYAN LOWRY AND FRANCESCA CHAMBERS

Graham spars with Jackson over child porn — and Kavanaugh

Graham had one of the most combative exchanges with Jackson while questioning her about punishment for viewers of child pornography.

Jackson said that one of the most effective deterrents is “substantial, substantial supervision,” angering Graham and causing the South Carolina Republican to shout that the best deterrent to future offenses is to “put their ass in jail, not supervise their computer usage.”

“Senator, would you let her respond,” Durbin told him.

It was the first of several times that Dubin interrupted Graham during the heated discussion.

As his time wound down, Graham pushed Jackson to comment on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s treatment by the committee three and a half years ago. He asked Jackson how she would feel if he had a letter accusing her of misconduct that he waited to turn over to the chair of the committee until the conclusion of her hearing.

“Senator, I’ve appreciated the kindness that each of you has shown me, to see me in your offices, to talk with me about my approach,” Jackson said.

Durbin sought to end the interaction, telling Graham that his time was up.

“I’m asking her about how she may feel about what ya’ll did,” Graham shot back at him.

Jackson came back to child pornography offenses when Durbin offered her extra time to respond to Graham’s inquiries, explaining how the Internet has allowed for the mass distribution of disturbing images with a single click.

“And all of a sudden you are looking at 30, 40, 50 years in prison,” she began to say.

Talking over her, Graham asserted, “Good. Good. Absolutely, good. I hope you are. Good. I hope you go to jail for 50 years, if you’re on the Internet trolling for images of children in sexual exploitations.”

Jackson ultimately said that the federal sentencing commission she served on tried to be rational in its approach to handing out penalties for individuals convicted of sexual crimes.

-- FRANCESCA CHAMBERS

Poll finds support for Jackson’s confirmation running high

As the hearings continue, fresh evidence emerged Wednesday that GOP criticism of Jackson has not yet broken through with the public.

A new Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 58% of Americans support confirming Jackson, about as high a share of citizens as any Supreme Court nominee has seen in the last 35 years. Thirty percent of Americans think she shouldn’t be confirmed.

Only current Chief Justice John Roberts had more support than Jackson for his confirmation in 2005, according to the survey. Jackson’s support otherwise surpassed that of past nominees ranging from Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 to Neil Gorsuch in 2017.

On average, nominees received 48% support from Americans, with 29% in opposition.

Some important caveats remain: Other surveys have found relatively lower levels of support for Jackson, and the poll was conducted before the start of this weeks’ confirmation hearings, during which GOP senators offered at times pointed criticism of her judicial record.

But the survey underlines how Jackson’s nomination has mostly avoided the kind of ferocious pushback that marked other recent Supreme Court fights, and why many in Washington expect she’ll be confirmed by the Senate next month.

-- ALEX ROARTY

Tillis weighs in with more opinions than questions

Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, seemed to spend more time expressing his opinion than asking Jackson questions.

The majority of his time was spent talking about the fragility of the U.S. Senate and Supreme Court if lawmakers decided to get rid of the legislative filibuster and add additional justices to the court. Democrats have openly discussed both ideas since President Joe Biden took office.

“I hope you can understand my concern about the political wins and the potential damage that it could do to the Senate, and to the Supreme Court,” Tillis said. “I think it was Federalist Papers 78, where [Alexander] Hamilton talked about the vulnerability or I think, the feebleness — now I think he was arguing, the case for lifetime appointments — but I do think that the Supreme Court is a fragile institution and I do believe that if we think its politicized now, think about how it would be if we destroy the institution of the Senate on a strict, party line, partisan vote to expand the court.”

Tillis eventually asked Jackson a few questions but not without first saying, “I didn’t expect you to respond to my riff on packing the court. Just to net it out it’s a bad, bad, bad, bad idea.”

The senator asked Jackson about a First Amendment case she was involved in out of Massachusetts involving buffer zones outside an abortion clinic that set limitations on pro-life protesters who were rowdier than the pro-choice advocates.

Jackson said the case was viewpoint neutral and was to ensure that the entrance to the clinic wasn’t blocked.

“Listen, I’m not an attorney,” Tillis said. “I watch ‘Law & Order’ from time to time, so I’m not going to get into a debate...”

Tillis’ statement caused both his name and North Carolina to trend on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.

-- DANIELLE BATTAGLIA

‘Presidents are not kings’

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, started the day’s questioning by asking about a statement Jackson invoked to prevent former President Donald Trump’s allies from testifying before Congress: “Presidents are not kings.”

The Trump administration had sparred with House Democrats who wanted to subpoena former White House counsel Don McGahn to talk about Trump’s alleged attempts to obstruct the Mueller investigation. Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The Trump administration had argued that the president must be able to receive advice from advisers without fear of it becoming public.

Siding with the Democrats in November 2019, Jackson wrote that “absolute immunity from compelled congressional process simply does not exist.”

Biden’s pick for the Supreme Court reiterated on Wednesday the importance of the separation of powers.

“Our constitutional scheme — the design of our government — is erected to prevent tyranny,” she said.

-- GILLIAN BRASSIL

Durbin defends Jackson against ‘conspiracy theories’

Durbin began Wednesday’s hearings with a pointed jab at some of the questions Jackson faced the day before, even specifically chiding Hawley — who Durbin referred to as the “senator from Missouri” — for pressing her about sentences she handed out for child sex offenders.

“Yesterday, your nomination turned out to be a testing ground for conspiracy theories or culture war theories,” Durbin said. “The more bizarre the charges against you, the more I understand the social media scoreboard lit up yesterday. I’m sorry that we have to go through this. These are not theories that are in the mainstream of America, but they have presented here as such.”

Durbin’s remarks touched off a testy response from Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, who complained that the Illinois Democrat was using his privilege as chairman to “editorialize” after every set of Republican questions.

Ossoff, a Democrat who was elected last year, interjected to tell senators that the American public tuned in for a substantive discussion.

“I don’t think we’ve set an appropriate tone by bickering over time and process,” Ossoff said.

Durbin told him, to laughter in the room, “I think in the name of your humility, we should do that.”

-- ALEX ROARTY AND FRANCESCA CHAMBERS

This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Live updates: Ketanji Brown Jackson faces more questions on day 3 of Supreme Court hearings."