(NEW YORK) — A new study has added to the body of research showing the risks pregnant people face due to COVID-19, especially among those who are not vaccinated.
The study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, found pregnant people with COVID-19 had more than double the risk of negative outcomes compared to pregnant people without the virus.
The negative outcomes for pregnant people with COVID-19 ranged from preterm birth and blood clots to respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis, according to researchers with Kaiser Permanente, a healthcare system, who analyzed the data of over 43,000 pregnant people during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.
“These findings add to the growing evidence that having COVID-19 during pregnancy raises risks of serious complications,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Assiamira Ferrara, a senior research scientist and associate director of the women’s and children’s health section in the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, said in a statement. “Coupled with the evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe during pregnancy, these findings should aid patients in understanding the risks of perinatal complications and the need for vaccination.”
Earlier this year, another study found that unvaccinated pregnant people with COVID-19 and their newborn babies have a higher risk of complications from the disease, like hospitalizations and newborn deaths, compared to those who are vaccinated against the virus.
The study, led by researchers in Scotland, found that unvaccinated pregnant people who contracted COVID not only had a risk of more severe illness themselves, but also were more likely to experience pregnancy loss or preterm birth compared to other women, leading the researchers to conclude, “Addressing low vaccine uptake in pregnant women is imperative to protect the health of women and babies.”
In the United States, as of mid-March, just over 60% of all pregnant people ages 18-49 years-old in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated, prior to or during pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since the start of the pandemic, in early 2020, there have been more than 188,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in pregnant people in the U.S., including nearly 300 deaths, according to the CDC.
Here is what pregnant and breastfeeding people may want to know about the COVID-19 vaccines to help them make informed decisions.
1. When can pregnant people get a COVID-19 vaccine?
Everyone 5 years of age and older, including pregnant people, is now eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccination, according to the CDC.
Pregnant people can get the COVID-19 vaccine at any point in their pregnancy and while breastfeeding, and the vaccine does not need to be spaced from other vaccines, like the flu shot or Tdap booster.
2. What is the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine?
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology, which does not enter the nucleus of the cells and doesn’t alter the human DNA. Instead, it sends a genetic instruction manual that prompts cells to create proteins that look like part of the virus as a way for the body to learn and develop defenses against future infection.
They are the first mRNA vaccines, and have been shown to be safe during pregnancy. They do not contain a live virus.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses an inactivated adenovirus vector, Ad26, that cannot replicate. The Ad26 vector carries a piece of DNA with instructions to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that triggers an immune response.
This same type of vaccine has been authorized for Ebola, and has been studied extensively for other illnesses — and for how it affects women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
The CDC has concluded that pregnant people can receive the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine after reviewing more than 200 pages of data provided by the company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Vaccine experts interviewed by ABC News said although pregnant women are advised against getting live-attenuated virus vaccines, such as the one for measles, mumps and rubella, because they can pose a theoretical risk of infection to the fetus, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine doesn’t contain live virus and should be safe.
3. Are there studies on pregnant women and the COVID-19 vaccine?
Yes, studies continue to show the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for pregnant people.
A study released Jan. 4 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found no increased risk of preterm or low-weight birth among babies born to pregnant people who got a COVID-19 vaccine shot, compared to babies born to unvaccinated pregnant people.
The study’s researchers, at Yale University, looked at the health data of more than 40,000 pregnant people and did not identify any safety issues with getting vaccinated while pregnant, no matter which trimester a woman was vaccinated, or how many vaccine doses she got during her pregnancy. Researchers noted most of the women included in the analysis were vaccinated in the second or third trimester, and the study didn’t include booster doses.
In a health warning issued in September urging pregnant people to get vaccinated, the CDC said data shows there is also no increased risk for miscarriage linked to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
“Miscarriage rates after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine were similar to the expected rate of miscarriage,” the CDC said at the time. “Additionally, previous findings from three safety monitoring systems did not find any safety concerns for pregnant people who were vaccinated late in pregnancy or for their babies.”
In addition, two studies released last summer found Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines appear to be safe and effective for pregnant people, and were also found to likely offer protection as well to infants born to a vaccinated person.
One study, published May 11 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, is believed to be the first to examine the impact of the COVID-19 vaccines on the placenta, according to the university. Researchers found the vaccine had no impact on pregnancy and no impact on fertility, menstruation and puberty.
A second study, led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, looked at more than 100 women who chose to get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and found that the women’s antibodies against COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated were also present in infant cord blood and breast milk.
An earlier study, a study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology in March found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are safe and effective in pregnant and lactating people and those people are able to pass protective antibodies to their newborns.
4. What are health groups saying about the COVID-19 vaccine?
In August, the CDC strengthened its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, citing new evidence of safety with the vaccines.
The nation’s two leading health organizations focused on the care of pregnant people — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) — also issued new guidelines calling on all pregnant people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In their joint recommendation issued in July, ACOG and SMFM said pregnant people should “feel confident” in getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
“ACOG is recommending vaccination of pregnant individuals because we have evidence of the safe and effective use of the vaccine during pregnancy from many tens of thousands of reporting individuals, because we know that COVID-19 infection puts pregnant people at increased risk of severe complications, and because it is clear from the current vaccination rates that people need to feel confident in the safety and protective value of the COVID-19 vaccines,” ACOG president Dr. J. Martin Tucker said in a statement. “Pregnant individuals should feel confident that choosing COVID-19 vaccination not only protects them but also protects their families and communities.”
“COVID-19 vaccination is the best method to reduce maternal and fetal complications of COVID-19 infection among pregnant people,” Dr. William Grobman, president of SMFM, said in a statement announcing the new recommendation, also noting the vaccines are safe before, during and after pregnancy.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also says pregnant people can be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Limited data are currently available to assess the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy. However, based on what we know about the kinds of vaccines being used, there is no specific reason for concern,” WHO says on its website. “None of the COVID-19 vaccines authorized to date use live viruses, which are more likely to pose risks during pregnancy.”
5. What will clinical trials be like for pregnant people?
Pfizer’s phase 2/3 trial will enroll approximately 4,000 women within weeks 24-34 of their pregnancy, the company announced in a press release.
Half will get the vaccine, and half will get a placebo.
The study will include healthy, pregnant woman age 18 and older in the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mozambique, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Spain.
Participants in the vaccine group will receive two doses at 21 days apart — and each woman will be followed for at least 7-10 months in order to continuously assess for safety in both participants and their infants.
Infants will also be assessed, up until 6 months of age, for transfer of protective antibodies from their vaccinated mother.
Women enrolled in the trial will be made aware of their vaccine status shortly after giving birth to allow those women who originally received placebo to be vaccinated while staying in the study.
6. Why weren’t pregnant people included in early clinical trials?
Not recruiting parents-to-be in clinical trials and medical research is nothing new, according to Dr. Ruth Faden, the founder of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and a bioethicist who studies the ethics of pregnancy and vaccines.
“For a very long time, pregnant women were not included in biomedical research evaluation efforts or clinical trials, both for concerns about fetal development and what would be the implications of giving a pregnant women an experimental drug or vaccine and also for legal liability worries from manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies,” Faden told “GMA” last month. “There’s a huge gap between what we know about the safety and effectiveness of a new drug or a new vaccine for the rest of the population and what we know about it specific to pregnancy.”
In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, health experts have only one of the three sources of evidence that are used to evaluate safety and efficacy during pregnancy: the data on non-pregnant people who were enrolled in the clinical trials, according to Faden.
From that, Faden said, health experts can try to glean what side effects may happen to people who are pregnant, but it is not an exact science.
However, it’s considered typical — and many argue ethically appropriate — to study an unknown substance first in healthy adults and then progressively in broader and broader populations. Pregnant people and children are often tested later down the line because of concerns about potential long-term harm.
Some of the volunteers in prior COVID-19 vaccine trials that didn’t include pregnant women directly may still become pregnant during the trial. This will also give researchers some insights about the vaccine’s safety among this group.
7. Is COVID-19 more dangerous for pregnant people?
According to the CDC, COVID-19 causes a two-fold risk of admission into intensive care and a 70% increased risk of death for pregnant people.
Health experts say that with or without the vaccine, pregnant people need to continue to remain on high alert when it comes to COVID-19 by following safety protocols, including face mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing.
ABC News’ Sony Salzman, Arielle Mitropoulos, Siobhan Deshauer, Eric Strauss and Sophia Gauthier, MD, a pediatric resident physician at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia as well as a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this report.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — For Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, the easiest part of a Senate confirmation hearing is over. Next come the questions — 19 hours of them over two days.
Jackson, 51, was sworn in Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivering an opening statement and reintroducing herself to the nation.
“I hope that you will see how much I love our country, and the Constitution and the rights that make us free,” she told the senators who will vote on her historic nomination.
On Tuesday, Jackson will lean on her three prior experiences being questioned by the Judiciary Committee — more than any other nominee in 30 years — as its 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats take turns probing her judicial philosophy, her record as a public defender and her legal opinions spanning nearly nine years on the bench.
“This is a new game for the Supreme Court,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of three Republicans who voted to confirm Jackson to the D.C. Circuit, the nation’s second-highest court, just last year.
Jackson has spent the past few weeks practicing for the spotlight during mock sessions conducted with White House staff, sources familiar with the preparations told ABC News. She also met individually with each of the committee’s members and 23 other senators from both parties.
Each senator will get a 30-minute solo round of questioning on Tuesday, totaling more than 11 hours if each uses all of his or her allotted time. The grilling is unlike any other for federal judges or political nominees in large part because of the lifetime tenure on the line.
Probing Jackson’s record on crime
While Democrats have emphasized the historic nature of Jackson’s nomination and her compelling personal story, Republicans have vowed “thorough and civil” scrutiny of her record in hundreds of cases, which some have implied shows she is “soft on crime.”
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has leveled the most pointed critique of Jackson’s record so far, accusing her of a “long record” of letting child porn offenders “off the hook” in sentencing.
During his statement Monday, Hawley raised seven child porn offender cases in which Jackson issued sentences below federal guidelines while on the District Court. (Roughly 60% of sentences in such cases are lower than what the guidelines call for, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and in most of the cases Hawley cited, federal prosecutors requested sentences shorter than what the guidelines suggest.)
“I’m not interested in trying to play gotcha,” Hawley told Jackson. “I am interested in her answers, because I found in our time together that she was enormously thoughtful, enormously accomplished and I suspect has a coherent view, an explanation, a way of thinking about this that I want to hear.”
The White House and several independent fact-checkers have called the claims misleading and unfair. The National Review, a conservative publication, called the allegations “meritless to the point of demagoguery” and a “smear.”
Spotlight on Jackson’s defense of Gitmo detainee
Republicans made clear they will also take aim at Jackson’s defense of an accused terrorist held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay — a case she was assigned to as a federal public defender.
“You used your time and talent not to serve our nation’s veterans or other vulnerable groups, but to provide free legal services to help terrorists get out of Gitmo and go back to the fight,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
Jackson has previously explained her service as an example of belief in constitutional values — the right of each person to a defense in the American judicial system — and noted her personal connection to the sacrifices of U.S. service members after 9/11. Her brother is a veteran.
Defining a judicial philosophy
Several Republicans said they planned to press Jackson to characterize her judicial philosophy.
During her confirmation hearing last year, Jackson said outright that she does “not have a judicial philosophy per se, other than to apply the same method of thorough analysis to every case, regardless of the parties.”
Conservative jurists tend to take a narrower view of constitutional and legal interpretation, sticking only to the text and its original meaning at the time it was written. Liberal jurists tend to take a more expansive view, taking into account the intent of legislators and evolving context around aspects of law.
“In any supreme court nomination, the most important thing that I look for is the nominee’s view of the law,” said the Judiciary Committee’s top Republican member, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. “I’ll be looking to see whether judge Jackson is committed to the Constitution as it was originally understood.”
Race, affirmative action and liberal priorities
While Republicans have sought to downplay questions related to race, Jackson’s ties to Harvard University and a major upcoming high court case involving the school’s use of race in admissions could open the door to those types of inquiries. She would be on the bench to hear the case if confirmed.
Several GOP senators also signaled Monday they intend to press Jackson to answer for progressive legal advocacy groups backing both her nomination and an expansion of the Supreme Court’s bench, or “court packing,” which the current justices oppose.
“We must protect the court,” declared Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, hinting he would look for Jackson to disavow the groups’ activities.
Trump administration rulings
Former President Donald Trump was only mentioned by name once in passing during Monday’s hearing, but several decisions Jackson issued against the Trump administration will likely be scrutinized Tuesday.
“I’m eager to understand why in some instances, you found that you could not decide a particular issue while in other instances you enjoined a Republican administration from implementing its policies,” said Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, alluding to some of those decisions.
In one case cited by conservatives, Jackson blocked a Trump administration plan to fast-track deportations because the policy change likely violated the Administrative Procedures Act and was “arbitrary and capricious.” The D.C. Circuit later overturned the decision.
Jackson’s ruling that former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn had to comply with a congressional subpoena over the administration’s objections will also draw attention.
“Presidents are not kings,” Jackson wrote. “Rather, in this land of liberty, it is indisputable that current and former employees of the White House work for the People of the United States, and that they take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The two days of questioning ahead could prove critical to the White House goal of securing at least some Republican support for Jackson’s confirmation. Three GOP senators voted in favor of her nomination to the D.C. Circuit. But Democrats also have the votes on their own for Jackson’s confirmation, which party leaders have said they plan to complete before Easter.
(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, will appear on Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first of four days of high-profile confirmation hearings.
Monday’s session kicked off with up to 10-minute opening statements from Senate Judiciary Committee members, five-minute statements from outside introducers, and then 10 minutes from Jackson herself.
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the nation’s second most powerful court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will face questions from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats over two days, starting Tuesday. On Thursday, senators can ask questions of the American Bar Association and other outside witnesses.
While Democrats have the votes to confirm President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee on their own, and hope to by the middle of April, the hearings could prove critical to the White House goal of securing at least some Republican support and shoring up the court’s credibility. Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes.
Jackson, who would replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer if confirmed, has spent the last month meeting with senators from both parties behind closed doors on Capitol Hill ahead of publicly testifying to her qualifications for the nation’s highest court.
Here is how the news is developing. Check back for updates:
Mar 21, 5:31 pm
Schumer dismisses GOP’s ‘desperate broadsides’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday he remains “confident” that the Senate is on track to confirm Jackson as 116th justice of the Supreme Court “by the end of this work period,” which concludes April 8.
“Over the course of the week, I expect the American people will finally see for themselves why Judge Jackson is one of the most-qualified individuals ever to be nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Schumer said.
The Democrat continued, “I also trust that Americans will see right through the misleading and desperate broadsides that a few members of the other side have launched against the judge in recent weeks.”
“We need not pretend that wild accusations from self-interested actors deserve to be taken seriously,” he said. “So color me skeptical that the American people will give them much weight.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Mar 21, 4:54 pm
KBJ ‘poised,’ ‘handled herself well’
Yvette McGee Brown, the first Black woman Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, told ABC News Live she thinks Ketanji Brown Jackson “handled herself well” at Monday’s hearing.
“She was poised, she smiled,” McGee Brown said. “The cameras are on her constantly, so if she smiled at the wrong time, somebody might take something inappropriate from that smile, making it look like she wasn’t taking the process seriously. So I think the way she came across was being thoughtful, listening, hearing what they were saying, nodding occasionally. But it was the right approach.”
McGee Brown said she thinks Jackson’s background as a public defender would bring a “beneficial” “perspective” to the court.
“We want to make sure that the system lives up to the constitutional balance that the framers have put in place. It is the state’s burden to prove defendants have committed a crime — her role as a public defender was to put the state through their burden and to represent her client zealously,” McGee Brown said. “I think bringing that perspective to the court will be beneficial. It will give everyone an opportunity to understand what it’s like for people who can’t afford their own lawyer, and hopefully during this process it will educate the public about how important it is to have both sides fairly represented.”
Mar 21, 4:40 pm
Psaki: KBJ ‘certainly deserves’ bipartisan support
Asked by ABC News whether the White House believes Jackson’s potential confirmation would be bipartisan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she “certainly deserves that.”
“Without being able to get into the minds of a range of Republican members,” Psaki said, “our view’s that given she has been confirmed three times with bipartisan support, that she has extensive experience, that she has ruled in favor of Democrats and Republicans under leaders of both parties, that she certainly deserves that. But we will see what the outcome ends up being.”
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Mar 21, 4:37 pm
Sherpa Doug Jones previews KBJ’s responses Tuesday
Former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, the Biden administration’s sherpa for Jackson as she undergoes the Senate confirmation process, followed Monday’s opening statements by previewing what to expect from Jackson on Tuesday.
“What I think you’re gonna hear from Judge Jackson tomorrow is the way she goes about judging and a process and a methodology that some will call a philosophy, others will just call it a process, but it’s going to be very, very consistent with what you heard today from almost everybody on that dias of what they want in a Supreme Court justice,” he said. “Fairness, impartiality, judicial restraint, not staying in a judicial lane, not being a policymaker — that’s what you’re going to hear the next two days from this judge.”
Asked how he expects Jackson to respond to accusations that she’s “soft on crime,” Jones said it will be “very simple for her to make the argument because she’s going to point to her record.”
“If she was truly a judge with a demonstrated history — a judge — with a demonstrated history of being ‘soft on crime,’ she would not have been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Police Chiefs, attorney generals from across the country from both sides of the aisle, former DOJ officials, former national security officials, former George W. Bush officials — that wouldn’t happen,” Jones said.
He said attacks from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., were “not surprising” and that Jackson will be able to talk about each of the seven cases he’s taken issue with over the next two days.
Mar 21, 4:13 pm
Citing ‘red flags,’ McConnell vows GOP will conduct ‘rigorous review’ of ‘likable’ KBJ
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out the GOP’s line of attack against Judge Jackson’s record on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, outlining what he called “red flags” that detract from her historic nomination.
Painting her as a judge with limited experience on the bench, McConnell said Republicans know very little about her judicial philosophy and emphasized that she has issued just two written opinions on the appeals court — both released after the opening on the high court became public. Notably, Jackson authored nearly 600 opinions during her eight years as a trial court judge.
“There is no meaningful sample size of appellate opinions or senators to consult,” McConnell said. “The country needs a respectful, dignified, but vigorous, exhaustive hearing.”
McConnell conceded that Jackson is “likable,” but stressed that he voted against her for her current post, adding that she hasn’t resolved his concerns about whether she’ll follow the law as written.
“I want to hear whether the judge actually agrees that the job the judge is to follow the law as it is read a simple straightforward proposition,” he said. “The judge’s job is to bring neutrality, not an agenda.”
For her part, Jackson said in her opening statement that she decides cases “from a neutral posture… without fear of favor.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Mar 21, 4:06 pm
Confirmation hearings continue Tuesday
After nearly four and a half hours of opening statements on Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene Tuesday at 9 a.m. when Judge Jackson will begin two days of intense questioning from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
Members will speak in order of seniority, with 30 minutes each for questions Tuesday and 20 minutes Wednesday.
Democrats are expected to continue their defense of Jackson against GOP attacks on her record as a federal public defender and in response to allegations she’s “soft on crime.” The Biden White House is aiming for at least a few Republicans to vote to confirm the president’s nominee.
With members of the public invited into the hearing room for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered doors, public seats were nearly full for Jackson’s opening statement, with numerous African American women in the room.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Mar 21, 3:53 pm
Jackson says she stands on the ‘shoulders of so many’
Noting she has almost a decade of experience on the bench, Jackson said she approaches the law with a “careful adherence to precedent” and joked that her opinions “tend to be on the long side…because I also believe in transparency — that people should know precisely what I think and the basis for my decision.”
“I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor,” she said. “I know that my role as a judge is a limited one. But the Constitution empowers me only to decide cases that are properly presented.”
Jackson continued, “All of my professional experiences, including my work as a public defender and a trial judge have instilled in me the importance of having each litigant know that the judge in the case has heard them, whether or not their arguments prevail in court.”
Wrapping up her opening statement and the first time she’s spoken formally before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jackson acknowledged those who came before her.
“I stand on the shoulders of so many who have come before me, including Judge Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom I share a birthday,” Jackson said. “And like Judge Motley, I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building ‘equal justice under law’ are a reality and not just an idea.”
“Thank you for this historic chance to join the highest court to work with brilliant colleagues to inspire future generations — and to ensure liberty and justice for all,” she said in closing.
Jackson will face marathon questioning round from senators on Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of the American Bar Association and outside witnesses speaking to her qualifications on Thursday.
Mar 21, 3:39 pm
Jackson on Breyer: ‘I would hope to carry on his spirit’
Jackson in her opening remarks honored Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who she clerked for and whose seat she would fill if confirmed.
She said, “I know that I could never fill his shoes. But if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit.”
She quoted something Breyer said on the day of his own nomination to the Supreme Court: “What is law supposed to do, seen as a whole? It is supposed to allow all people — all people — to live together in a society, where they have so many different views, so many different needs, to live together in a way that is more harmonious, that is better, so that they can work productively together.”
Jackson vowed, “If I am confirmed, I commit to you that I will work productively to support and defend the Constitution and the grand experiment of American democracy that has endured over these past 246 years.”
Mar 21, 3:36 pm
Jackson nods to her family in hearing room
After thanking her parents, siblings, husband and in-laws for being in the hearing room to support her, Jackson reserved a “special moment” in her introduction to thank her daughters, Talia, 21, and Leila, 17.
“Girls, I know it has not been easy as I have tried to navigate the challenges of juggling my career and motherhood. And I fully admit that I did not always get the balance right, but I hope that you have seen that with hard work, determination and love, it can be done,” she said.
“I am so looking forward to seeing what each of you chooses to do with your amazing lives in this incredible country. I love you so much,” Jackson added.
Jackson’s husband, Patrick, a general surgeon, was seen wiping away tears in the chamber as Jackson spoke.
Mar 21, 3:33 pm
Jackson thanks God in opening statement
Ketanji Brown Jackson in her opening remarks said she wanted to “reaffirm my thanks to God, for it is faith that sustains me at this moment. Even prior to today, I can honestly say that my life had been blessed beyond measure.”
With her parents looking on, Jackson addressed how her parents “experienced lawful racial segregation first-hand” and moved from Miami to Washington, D.C. before she was born.
“My parents taught me that, unlike the many barriers that they had had to face growing up, my path was clearer, such that if I worked hard and believed in myself, in America I could do anything or be anything I wanted to be,” she said. “Like so many families in this country, they worked long hours and sacrificed to provide their children every opportunity to reach their God-given potential. My parents have been married for 54 years, and they are here with me today; I cannot possibly thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me.”
Mar 21, 3:30 pm
KBJ’s former Harvard roommate introduces her personal side
Judge Jackson’s second introducer, professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, was her roommate for most of college and law school at Harvard University and spoke to Jackson’s personal side.
Fairfax described Jackson as a “sister” and “the friend that makes sure we all belong too.”
“She showed us how by the power of her example of hard work, preparation, and excellence that transformed the seemingly impossible into the achievable,” she said, calling her the “rock” of their friend group.
“We knew early on she could be anything she chose to be, but also that she seemed destined to be a judge because of her ability to see all sides,” she continued. “Above all, Ketanji is humble enough not to pretend she knows how to have it all, but she does know how to give it all. What she gives to her family, her friends, she also gives to the law — and this country.”
Mar 21, 3:26 pm
Republican-nominated judge stresses Jackson is ‘an independent jurist’
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s first introducer, Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was nominated by a Republican. He introduced Jackson on Monday and told the Senate Judiciary Committee, “Although we did not always agree on that outcome the law required, I respected her diligent and careful approach, her deep understanding and her collegial manner.”
Griffith often reviewed Jackson’s decisions as a trial judge while he served on the Court of Appeals and wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month in support of Jackson’s confirmation.
Griffith called Jackson “an independent jurist who adjudicates based on the facts and the law and not as a partisan. Time and again she has demonstrated that impartiality.”
Mar 21, 3:25 pm
Blackburn grills Jackson on ‘hidden agendas’
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., launched into a series on concerns over Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, taking particular issue with Jackson apparently telling her in their meeting on Capitol Hill that she does not have a judicial philosophy.
“The American people deserve a Supreme Court justice with a documented commitment to the text of the Constitution and the rule of law, not a judicial activist who will attempt to make policy from the bench. Without a judicial philosophy, a judge is legally adrift and it will be inclined to consider policy rather than law,” Blackburn said.
The senator from Tennessee suggested Jackson used the COVID-19 pandemic as justification to release criminals and also took issue with Jackson as a federal public defender for Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying, “You used your time and talent not to serve our veterans or other vulnerable groups, but to provide free legal services to help terrorists.”
“The American people want a justice who will protect their families’ freedoms, not allow government overreach. Moms that I am speaking with raised the issue of crime. You have consistently called for greater freedom for hardened criminals,” Blackburn added.
She also echoed arguments raised by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that Jackson was too lenient on child porn criminals, although ABC News reporting found Hawley’s claims misleading.
“You once wrote that every judge has ‘personal, hidden agendas” that influence how they decide cases,” Blackburn said. “I can only wonder, what your hidden agenda is. Is it to let child predators back to the streets? Is it to restrict parental rights and expand government into our schools and private family decisions? Is it to support the radical left’s attempt to pack the Supreme Court?”
Mar 21, 3:13 pm
Judiciary members continue opening remarks
Senate Judiciary Committee members continued opening statements in the afternoon ahead of an opening statement from Jackson herself.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., echoed Democrats who have touted the historic nature of Biden’s appointment, saying, “Even before your first opinion or dissent, your appearance before us today already begins a new chapter in our nation’s history.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he hopes the hearings will focus on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy and the appropriate balance of government. He also offered compliments to the Biden White House for selecting former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones to serve as Jackson’s sherpa, and Jones appeared to respond with a soft smile.
“Senator Jones knows the Senate and the Senate knows Senator Jones,” Kennedy said.
Offering the most praise for Jackson on the Republican side thus far, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., spoke to her qualifications and character and said he’s currently reading Jackson’s Harvard University thesis. He expects to finish it by Tuesday’s questioning.
Mar 21, 2:51 pm
Senate on ‘precipice of shattering another ceiling’: Booker
After Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., launched into a series of attacks on the Biden administration, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. — one of only three African American senators in the chamber and the only African American on the Judiciary Committee — took a more optimistic tone in his opening statement, calling the day “joyful.”
“Forgive me, I grew up in a small Black church where I was taught to make a joyous noise under the Lord,” Booker said through a grin. “This is not a normal day for America. We have never had this moment before. I just want to talk about the joy.”
“Today is a day of joy. Today is a day of joy. Today we should rejoice. President Biden nominated someone we have heard who is extraordinarily talented, who also happens to be a Black woman,” he said, in an apparent swipe at critics.
Booker acknowledged that Tuesday and Wednesday’s marathon questioning from senators will be “tough” but said the American people should not overlook the history-making moment before them.
“The Senate is poised right now to break another barrier. We are on the precipice of shattering another ceiling, another glass ceiling,” he said. “We are continuing to rise to our collective idea. I just feel the sense of overwhelming joy as I see you sitting there, as I see your family sitting behind you.”
He also recalled how Jackson’s daughter, Leila, present in the hearing room, wrote a letter to then-President Barack Obama asking for him to put her mother on the Supreme Court. Now, with Democrats holding a razor-thin majority in the Senate, she’s headed for confirmation.
“Generations of little young girls and generations of young boys — no matter who their parents are — will have the audacity to write the president of the United States, whether they are daughters of white parents, Black parents, biracial parents, Muslim and Jewish parents, we are going to see a new generation of children talking about their mamas,” Booker said. “And daring to write to the president of the United States of America.”
“I want to tell your daughter right now, that dream of hers is so close to being a reality,” he added. “It is a tough day ahead but I think it could happen.”
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Mar 21, 2:28 pm
Confirmation hearings resume
After a 30-minute break, the Senate Judiciary Committee reconvened for confirmation hearings for Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court.
Seven more senators will deliver opening statements before the public hears from two introducers and then Jackson herself.
Democrats have continued to highlight the significance of the moment as Monday marks the first time the Senate has considered a Black woman for the nation’s highest court. They have also used their time to defend Biden’s nominee against GOP attacks that she’s “soft on crime,” touting her ties to law enforcement and her endorsement from the fraternal order of police.
Several Republicans, meanwhile, have raised past grievances regarding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, suggesting their nominee wasn’t treated fairly in 2018.
“We won’t try to turn this into a spectacle based on alleged process fouls,” said Ranking Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. “On that front, we’re off to a good start.”
Mar 21, 1:38 pm
Confirmation hearings enter break
The Senate Judiciary Committee has gone into a 30-minute break following a morning of opening statements from Democrats and Republicans on the committee considering Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
After the break, seven more senators have opening statements to deliver before the public hears from two introducers and Jackson herself.
Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will have five minutes each to introduce Jackson, whom they know personally.
Griffith often reviewed Jackson’s decisions as a trial judge while he served on the Court of Appeals and wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month in support of Jackson’s confirmation. Fairfax and Jackson were roommates for most of college and law school at Harvard University.
Jackson’s 10-minute opening statement will air on ABC News Television network with special coverage.
Mar 21, 1:35 pm
Sasse raises the ‘Ginsburg rule’
The Ginsburg rule, named for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who famously deflected senators’ questions when asked at her confirmation hearings how she would rule on a hypothetical case, follows the thinking that justices shouldn’t hint at how they would rule because they should be open-minded when an actual case comes before them.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in his opening statement that despite the Ginsburg rule, Jackson should be able to answer in detail questions about her own judicial philosophy — and how she goes about deciding a case.
“It’s incredibly important for a judge to tell us how she or he works out those principles in times that are new and confusing,” Sasse said. “Unfortunately, too many of the court’s decisions do not rest on solid constitutional foundations and reliable legal reasoning. Justices have too often written decisions to claim partisan policy victories and then retrofit bad legal or decision-making to justify that ruling.”
“It’s for that reason that, while we should all respect the Ginsburg rule, the idea that judges sitting before this panel should not weigh in on hypothetical cases likely to come before the court, nominees do, nonetheless, have a duty to be very clear about their judicial philosophy, their legal views and interpretive principles,” he continued. “The American people should not be asked to consent to any nominee who operates on principles that are obscure, confused or concealed.”
Mar 21, 1:26 pm
Blumenthal praises ‘giant leap into present’ with Jackson’s nomination
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., spoke about the historic nature of the hearings — the first time in 233 years the Senate will consider the nomination of a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
“Historic is a word often overused in this place where a lot of history is made, but today seems truly to merit it,” Blumenthal began. “Certainly it is an inflection point — an inflection pinnacle — for our nation. The appointment of a Black woman to the United States Supreme Court — let’s be very blunt — should have happened years ago.”
“This day is a giant leap into the present for our country and the court,” he added. “The appointment of a Black woman to the court will make the court look more like America. Hopefully, too, it will make the court think more like America.”
Blumenthal went on to praise Jackson’s experience as a public defender, saying the American justice system works best when there is good counsel on both sides. Jackson is the first nominee to the nation’s highest court with a background as a public defender.
“Representation matters for the legitimacy and credibility of our judicial system,” he said. “People walking into your courtroom or any other in this country look to the human being, not just to the robes.”
“Your presence will ensure the court more fully and deeply understands the lives and experiences of everyday Americans,” he added.
Mar 21, 1:14 pm
Republicans relive Kavanaugh hearings in opening statements
Republicans have continually used their opening statements in Jackson’s confirmation hearings to lament Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings to the court in 2018.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, all brought up Kavanaugh in their opening statements, claiming Jackson will be treated with more respect.
“Judge Jackson, I can assure you that your hearing will feature none of that disgraceful behavior,” Cruz said. “No one is going to inquire into your teenage dating habits. No one is going to ask you with mock severity, ‘Do you like beer?'”
Cruz attempted to get ahead of the argument, he said, that rigorous questioning or a vote against Jackson’s confirmation means “you must somehow harbor racial animus” and went on to list instances when Democrats blocked nominations of racial minorities to judicial posts.
A theme emerging for Democrats, meanwhile, has been to preempt attacks from Republicans that Jackson is “soft on crime” with several of them speaking about her ties to law enforcement.
Mar 21, 12:46 pm
Klobuchar compliments Jackson’s family values — and wardrobe
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., ticked through Judge Jackson’s qualifications to the high court in her opening statement but first, she took a moment to compliment her “bold purple” blazer and turned to Jackson’s family values.
“If Senator Whitehouse is pleased that you once clerked for a Rhode Island judge, we, in Minnesota, are equally happy that you are wearing bold purple today, winning over both Prince and Minnesota Vikings fans the world over,” she joked.
Klobuchar also welcomed Jackson’s husband, Patrick, two daughters, Talia and Lelia, and parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, all seated inside the hearing room, and told Jackson it was clear, “your family has been a constant source of inspiration and support for you.”
“While these hearings are truly an opportunity for my colleagues have pointed out for Americans to get to know your legal acumen, we also learned about your background, your experiences, your values, and for so many of us, including people watching this hearing across the country, our values start with our family,” she said.
As many senators had before her, Klobuchar also acknowledged the historic nature of Jackson’s nomination.
“You, judge, are opening a door that’s long been shut to so many and by virtue of your strong presence, your skills, your experience, you are showing so many little girls and little boys across the country that anything and everything is possible,” she said.
Klobuchar also noted the historic timing of the hearings — “at a moment in our history when the people of this country are once again seeing, this time in Ukraine, that democracy can never be taken for granted. Eternal vigilance, it’s been said, is the price of liberty.”
Mar 21, 12:31 pm
GOP to drill Jackson on record defending Guantanamo Bay detainees
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, echoing Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also raised a red flag at the support Judge Jackson has gotten from progressive advocacy groups like Demand Justice, saying he is “troubled” that the same group that supports so-called “court-packing” or expanding the Supreme Court.
He said that he’s concerned that she hasn’t clarified her position on the matter. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has raised a similar objection.
Cornyn also warned Jackson that he, like Graham, intended to drill down on Jackson’s role defending Guantanamo Bay detainees both as a federal public defender and in private practice.
“This is not your first rodeo,” he said. “You’ve had an impressive record as a trial court judge and appellate court. I like the fact you have such broad experience in our judicial and legal system but there’s still unanswered questions that remain.”
“As someone who has deep respect for the adversarial system of justice, I understand the importance of zealous advocacy, but it appears that sometimes this zealous advocacy has gone beyond the pale, and in some instances, it appears that your advocacy has bled over into your decision-making process as a judge,” he added.
He immediately noted that Jackson has been overturned in some high-profile cases.
“You’ve had some cases reversed, like all judges do, but some of them were particularly high profile when you ruled against a Republican administration,” he said. “I’m eager to understand why in some instances, you found you could not decide a particular issue while in other instances, you adjoined a Republican administration from implementing its policies.”
Mar 21, 12:23 pm
Graham previews tough questioning from GOP
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he’s in favor of a more diverse court but said he has not yet pledged support for Judge Jackson.
“I think it’s good for the court to look like America, so count me in on the idea of making the court more diverse,” he said, but adding he has also said, “I want the court to play a particular role in America … make it operate in the confines of the Constitution.”
Attempting to get ahead of any political backlash to GOP questioning, Graham said he’s interested in Jackson’s record as a public defender during Guantanamo Bay proceedings and told Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to ask about her record as a federal district judge, calling it “fair game.” ABC News reporting found Hawley’s claims were misleading.
“The bottom line here is when it is about philosophy when it’s somebody of color on our side. It’s about we’re all racist if we ask hard questions. It’s not going to fly with us,” Graham said.
“We’re going to ask you what we think you need to be asked,” he added.
The South Carolina senator claimed that progressive groups came to Jackson’s aid “at the expense of Judge Childs,” whom he pledged to support had Biden nominated her, adding she “would have gotten 60-plus votes.” Jackson has said she knew nothing of the endorsement from the progressive advocacy group Demand Justice in a committee questionnaire.
Graham said the hearings will be “challenging” for Jackson, “informative” for the American public, and “respectful” by the committee.
Mar 21, 12:19 pm
Grassley reminds committee members of their goal
Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, complained that the committee hasn’t received all of the records Republicans originally sought from Jackson’s time on the sentencing commission but offered a bit of praise.
“We’re off to a good start,” Grassley said, comparing Jackson’s hearings against those for Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
As senators have used Supreme Court confirmation hearings in recent years for political grandstanding, Grassley also reminded the committee of its purpose.
“In any Supreme Court nomination, the most important thing we look for is the nominee’s view of the law, judicial philosophy and view on the role of a judge. I’ll be looking to see whether Judge Jackson is committed to the Constitution as originally understood,” he said.
Mar 21, 11:52 am
Democrats defend Jackson against GOP attacks
After drawing a contrast between America of the past and present, from a nation that once had hundreds of thousands of enslaved people to that of a “more perfect union,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., defended Jackson against concerns voiced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and some other Republicans that, as a former public defender, she will have “special empathy” as some Democrats touted.
“The cameras and the lights here today can make it easy to forget that at its core the responsibility you seek is one of service — and I’m fully confident you’ll serve Americans from all walks of life, all backgrounds fairly and faithfully,” Durbin said.
“Now there may be some who claim without a shred of evidence that you’ll be a rubber stamp for this president. For those would-be critics, I have four words: Look at the record,” he added.
Pointing out that the committee has already scoured her records now on four different occasions and seen “every published and reported word you’ve written or spoken,” Durbin said, “For those who say they need more, I would answer that you’ve sat down personally with every member of the dais of the committee, Democrats and Republicans.”
In what’s likely to become a theme for Democrats, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., echoed Durbin’s defense.
“Judge Jackson is not anti-law enforcement. She hails from a law enforcement family. She’s also won the support of preeminent national law enforcement organizations including the national fraternal order of police,” Leahy said. “And no, she’s not soft on crime. Her background as a federal public defender would bring an informed perspective of our criminal justice system to the Supreme Court.”
Mar 21, 11:31 am
Biden tweets support for Jackson
In a show of support for his nominee, Biden tweeted a video from Judge Jackson’s nomination ceremony at the White House ahead of her confirmation hearings Monday.
“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a brilliant legal mind with the utmost character and integrity,” the tweet read. “She deserves to be confirmed as the next Justice of the Supreme Court.”
Democrats, with 50 seats in the Senate and Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaking vote, already have the votes to confirm Jackson, but the White House is hoping to secure Republican votes and the approval of the American public with this week’s hearings.
Mar 21, 11:29 am
Durbin opens historic hearings
Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., gaveled in the hearings at 11:02 a.m. — marking the first time in 233 years that the Senate will consider the nomination of a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
“The rule of law has stood the test of time, but the reality is that the court’s members have never really reflected the nation they served,” Durbin said.
“Today is a proud day for America,” he continued, noting he saw many young African American women on the steps of the Supreme Court at a rally for Jackson’s confirmation earlier this morning.
Durbin also had a preemptive message for Republicans on the committee like Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who are expected to attack Jackson’s credibility, noting that she’s been vetted three times by the Senate and confirmed.
“Despite your record, we’ve heard claims that you’re, quote, soft on crime. These baseless charges are unfair,” he said.
“You, Judge Jackson, are one of Mr. Lincoln’s living witnesses of an America that is unafraid of challenge, willing to risk change, confident of the basic goodness of our citizens — and you are living witness to the fact that in America all is possible,” Durbin continued.
Mar 21, 11:06 am
Jackson’s family in the room as confirmation hearings kick off
Confirmation hearings for Judge Jackson — Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court — are officially underway. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., gaveled them in just after 11 a.m.
To begin, the committee’s 22 members will each have 10 minutes each for opening statements ahead of two introducers to Jackson and an opening statement from Jackson herself.
If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court.
A Monmouth University Poll released this morning found a majority of Americans (55%) say Jackson should be confirmed as an associate justice on the Supreme Court. Only 21% say she should not be confirmed, and 24% offered no opinion.
Jackson’s husband, Patrick, two daughters, Talia and Lelia, and her parents, Johnny Brown and Ellery Brown, are all in attendance for the historic event.
In a sign of pandemic restrictions easing across the country and in Washington, almost no one in the hearing room was wearing a mask.
Mar 21, 10:31 am
Ketanji Brown Jackson: The meaning behind the name
Judge Jackson recounted in a 2017 speech that her parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, wanting to show pride in their African ancestry, asked her aunt, who was then in the Peace Corps in West Africa, for a list of African girl names.
Taking one of her suggestions, Jackson’s parents named her Ketanji Onyika, which translates to “lovely one.”
Jackson’s parents grew up in South Florida under segregation, “but never gave up hope that their children would enjoy the true promise of America,” Biden said at a White House event last month introducing Jackson.
Biden said Jackson was a “star student” who fell in love with a law career while watching her own father going to law school at the University of Miami, often drawing on coloring books at the dining room table next to her father’s homework. Jackson went on to attend Harvard Law School herself, despite some cautioning her against setting her sights too high.
“My life has been blessed beyond measure and I do know that one can only come this far by faith,” Jackson said at the White House. “Among my many blessings, the very first is the fact that I was born in this great country. The United States of America is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known.”
She married Patrick Jackson, a general surgeon, in 1996, and the couple has two daughters, Talia, 21, and Leila, 17.
Mar 21, 10:22 am
In nominating Jackson, Biden fulfilled campaign pledge
With Biden’s nomination of Judge Jackson, he officially followed through on his 2020 campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court and his vow to make the high court look more “like America.”
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” Biden said at a White House event last month introducing his historic pick. “And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications. And that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level.”
A former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her. If confirmed, she would be the first federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court and the first justice since Thurgood Marshall to have criminal defense experience.
“She listens. She looks people in the eye, lawyers, defendants, victims and families. And she strives to ensure that everyone understands why she made a decision, what the law is and what it means to them,” Biden said. “She strives to be fair, to get it right, to do justice.”
While the White House was eager to follow through on Biden’s pledge, an ABC News/Ipsos poll from January found just 23% of Americans said they wanted him to automatically follow through on his history-making commitment. Over three-quarters of Americans (76%) said they wanted Biden to consider “all possible nominees.”
Mar 21, 10:02 am
Jackson preps for intense hearings by — knitting
While Judge Jackson has more experience fielding questions during high-intensity Senate hearings than any Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991, she has described the process as “extremely nerve-wracking,” although she’s seen Senate confirmation three times.
To offset that nervous energy, Jackson says she took up — knitting.
“The lights are as bright as they are in here, in terms of cameras and attention, and you do your best not to make a fool of yourself in front of the senators,” Jackson said in a conversation for the D.C. Circuit Historical Society in 2019.
She said that she “started so many scarves I could have outfitted a small army,” recalling her first Senate confirmation process in 2012, when she was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. District Court in Washington. She currently sits on currently sits Washington’s federal appellate court.
Ahead of this week’s marathon questioning, Jackson met one-on-one with 44 senators ahead of her hearings next week, including all members of the Judiciary Committee and its 11 Republican members, according to former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, the White House “sherpa” for the nominee, escorting her on Capitol Hill.
Mar 21, 9:40 am
Some in GOP paint Jackson as ‘soft on crime,’ White House rejects accusation
Several GOP senators have telegraphed plans to question Judge Jackson’s defense of detainees at Guantanamo Bay as a private defense attorney, her support of reduced sentences for convicted drug offenders and the backing of her nomination by outside progressive advocacy groups.
In a sign the hearings could get contentious, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri — a former Supreme Court clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts and a potential presidential hopeful — suggested in a barrage of tweets Thursday that Jackson has a “long record” of letting child porn offenders “off the hook” and suggested she is “soft on crime.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back last week, calling it a “last-ditched eve-of-hearing desperation attack.”
“The facts are that, in the vast majority of cases involving child sex crimes, broadly, the sentences Judge Jackson imposed were consistent with or above what the government or U.S. probation [authorities] recommended. And so, this attack that we’ve seen over the last couple of days relies on factual inaccuracies and taking Judge Jackson’s record wildly out of context,” Psaki said.
While court records show that Jackson did impose lighter sentences than federal guidelines suggested, Hawley’s insinuation neglects critical context, including the fact that the senator himself has voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also engaged in the same practice. ABC News’ Devin Dwyer fact checks Hawley here.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:23 am
Will any Republicans vote for Jackson?
Judge Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes. She was also confirmed by the Senate in 2010 as vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Lindsey Graham voted in favor of Judge Jackson’s confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2021, but after private meetings with Jackson this month, all three were noncommittal about supporting her again.
While Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin has said he is hopeful more than three Republicans will support the nomination this time around, GOP Whip Sen. John Thune said last week he would be surprised it that were the case.
“I think it’s important to recognize that she has been confirmed three times now, so this is not a candidate who is a blank slate to us,” Collins said after spending more than 90 minutes one-on-one with Jackson. “I will, of course, await the hearings before the Judiciary Committee before making a decision.”
No Republican senator has publicly disputed Jackson’s qualification to be a justice, though several have raised concerns about her rulings and presumed judicial philosophy.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:06 am
What to expect at Monday’s hearings
Monday marks the first day of four high-profile hearings where the Senate Judiciary Committee and American people will hear from Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee and the first Black woman nominated to the nation’s highest court in its 233-year history.
The hearings will gavel in at 11 a.m. with 10-minute statements from the committee’s 11 Republican and 11 Democratic members. Following member opening statements, Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will have five minutes each to introduce Jackson, whom they know personally.
Finally, Judge Jackson will then deliver an opening statement in the afternoon for 10 minutes. ABC News will air special coverage of her remarks.
And for the first time since the pandemic, for each half-hour of the proceeding, up to 60 members of the public invited by senators will also be allowed to attend.
(WASHINGTON) — For nearly 11 months, firearm manufacturers and gun control advocates have waited as a major “ghost gun” regulation has snaked its way through federal regulation processes, inching closer toward implementation.
Meanwhile, each year since 2016 has seen growing numbers in untraceable firearms to date, according to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives statistics— in schools, makeshift factories and rising crime scenes as some state legislatures have scrambled to act, in what Everytown for Gun Safety’s president called “the most unregulated corner of the firearms industry.”
In the coming months, a measure that will modify the federal definition of “firearm” to include unfinished gun parts like frames and receivers is expected to receive approval. The Justice Department introduced the proposal last May in an effort to curb the rise of so-called ghost guns — unregulated, easy-to-make firearms that can be ordered online. Ghost guns often come in kits and many can be assembled within an hour.
The modified definition is meant to disrupt a supply chain that has strengthened over the past five years, gun control experts said. The number of unserialized (and thus unregulated) firearms seized by major metro police departments has grown exponentially. In Philadelphia, local police seized 571 ghost guns in 2021 compared to 13 in 2018. In New York City, police seized 375 ghost guns in 2021 compared to 48 in 2019, according to city data.
“I could spend hours telling these stories about how these ghost guns have hurt our community and made our streets unsafe,” Baltimore Police Chief Michael Harrison, whose department seized nine ghost guns in 2018 compared to 352 in 2021, said at a January press conference.
From 2016 through 2020, there were approximately 23,906 suspected ghost guns recovered by law enforcement from potential crime scenes, according to the DOJ. Without a serial number, it is often impossible for law enforcement to track where individual guns came from.
“There’s no question about it, that the regulation will shut down the marketplace going forward,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told ABC News.
National Shooting Sports Foundation general counsel Lawrence Keane said in an interview that the regulation is “the single most significant change for manufacturers under the law, since the Gun Control Act was enacted in 1968.”
So far, 10 states and Washington, D.C., have enacted laws to disrupt the supply chain of ghost guns. Last year’s DOJ proposal came after several lawsuits from gun control advocates and a letter from 18 state attorneys general urged U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to propose such a change.
“While states can close this loophole within our own borders, we need federal action to institute a nationwide solution; even when states try to close this loophole, 80% receivers can still be readily purchased online, or trafficked into our states from other jurisdictions,” the AG’s said in the letter.
This is in reference to the “80% rule” — namely, that frames and receivers that are 80% completed are not technically considered firearms under current rule and are not regulated by the Gun Control Act of 1968. They’re unserialized, untraced and can be ordered online by those barred from buying a traditional firearm. “80% receivers” often come in kits with the other parts necessary to build a ghost gun. 3D printers can also produce ghost gun parts.
Lobbyists on behalf of the firearm industry and gun control measures expect the new regulations to come into place with possible revisions based on the nearly 300,000 public comments received.
When exactly that will come, however, is up in the air.
In a statement to ABC News, the DOJ said the original agenda lists June 2022, but “we are working to finalize it as soon as feasible.” Acting ATF director Marvin Richardson also said at an NSSF gathering that the expected date is June.
But Feinblatt, the Everytown president, told ABC News the White House said the regulations will come in April.
Once finalized, it will be the first time the definition of “firearm” will be changed since the Gun Control Act of 1968.
“I’ll say it’s the single most important thing that can be done on the ghost gun issue,” David Pucino, deputy chief counsel of Giffords, an organization that monitors and advances gun control legislation and founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, told ABC News.
Pucino said his office has monitored ghost guns since 2017 in California, which is where ghost guns first sprouted. Due to California’s strict gun control laws, he said unserialized firearms became increasingly popular.
“Somewhat perversely, the states that have the strongest gun laws are the ones that are most susceptible to ghost guns,” Pucino said. “Because it’s the easiest route to get around all those regulations in place.”
Already, the proposed changes have been met with pushback from the firearms trade industry. Keane, from the NSSF, said in an interview with ABC News that the proposed definition overreaches ATF’s statutory authority. Many of the new implementations, such as multiple or reprinted serial numbers on guns, a manufacturing overhaul and unclear implementation details, overstep the ATF’s authority, he said.
Keane also said the 90-day period from when the rule is implemented to when firearm manufacturers have to comply is too short for major changes to the law.
“So (the ATF) indicated that the comments from (the firearm) industry were helpful, and made them think about things they hadn’t considered or thought about,” he said.
He expects to see modifications from last year’s proposed changes. “We’ll see what the final rule says,” Keane added.
Cracking down on ghost guns is a key part of President Joe Biden’s agenda in curbing gun violence.
During a trip to New York City following the deaths of two NYPD officers, he announced the creation of a National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative, including a strike force to crack down on illegal gun trafficking across state lines.
At the State of the Union, Biden brought up the issue again.
“… we’ll do everything in my power to crack down on gun trafficking, on ‘ghost guns’ that you can buy online, assemble at home, no serial numbers, can’t be traced,” he said.
Once the regulation is implemented, “that will cut off ghost guns at the source,” Pucino said.
Don’t look now, but alternative bands are taking over the Billboard Hot 100.
Following Glass Animals‘ historic ascension to the top of the chart with their hit single “Heat Waves” earlier this month, Imagine Dragons has once again returned to the Hot 100’s top 10.
Dan Reynolds and company now sit at number eight on the ranking with “Enemy,” a collaboration with hip hop artist JID recorded for the animated Netflix animated show Arcane. That gives ID their fifth top-10 Hot 100 hit, and their first since “Thunder” reached the milestone in 2017.
“Enemy” is also the number-one single on Billboard‘s Alternative Airplay chart.
“Heat Waves,” meanwhile, remains at number one on the Hot 100 for the third week. Glass Animals took the spot after 59 weeks on the chart, the longest any song has ever taken to reach number one.
A previously unseen performance by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will be part of the “MusiCares: Music on a Mission” virtual benefit event that will be livestreamed on Wednesday, March 30, at 8 p.m. ET the Mandolin platform.
The fundraiser, which is being presented by the MusiCares organization in partnership with the Gibson guitar company, will feature various never-before-seen performances by artists including k.d. lang, Brandi Carlile, Shawn Colvin, Jason Isbell, Fitz of Fitz and the Tantrums, and Fantastic Negrito, as well as the aforementioned Petty and his group, and many more.
The event will celebrate both the power of music and legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, who is being honored as the 2022 MusiCares Person of the Year at a star-studded gala scheduled for April 1 in Las Vegas. All proceeds from ticket sales for the “Music on a Mission” show will go to in-need members of the music community. General admission tickets cost $25; visit Mandolin.com to buy tickets and for more info.
Petty’s performance with The Heartbreakers comes from the 2017 MusiCares Person of the Year gala, which honored Tom. Petty died in October 2017 at age 66.
The first “Music on a Mission” virtual event was held last year in place of the MusiCares Person of the Year gala, which was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Music on a Mission started as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and we were blown away by the support from the music community, industry professionals and of course music fans,” says MusiCares executive Laura Segura. “We’re so thankful that Gibson recognizes the importance of this event to both fans and professional musicians and that they’ve signed on to help us make Music on a Mission a reality again this year.”
Deadline is reporting Christina Ricci is back in the family…the Addams Family that is. The actress, who played macabre moppet Wednesday Addams in Barry Sonnenfeld‘s ’90s-era Addams Family movies, will be back for Wednesday, a forthcoming Netflix series based around the character.
The trade notes that Ricci won’t be reprising the role — Scream 5 star Jenny Ortega is playing Wednesday — but Christina will be cast in a recurring role that producers want to keep secret “to protect the surprise for fans.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Wednesday’s mom, Morticia Addams, in the Tim Burton-produced series, with Luis Guzmán playing family patriarch Gomez, who was portrayed by the late Raul Julia in the films.
Halsey‘s about-face line of cosmetics has a brand-new collection dropping Wednesday, called Saturation Nation. You can see Halsey sporting some of the new colors on their Instagram.
An advance clip of Olivia Rodrigo‘s Disney+ documentary Driving Home 2 U (A Sour Film) is now available to watch on YouTube. In the clip, which first premiered on Billboard, Olivia and her band perform “Jealousy, Jealousy” under a freeway overpass in Southern California.
Is Miley Cyrus putting out a live album? In response to a fan tweeting “Girls don’t want boys. Girls want a full Miley Cyrus live album,” the singer replied, “Girls get what girls want.” She added the hashtags #MileyLive and #ATTENTION.
Apeaking of Miley Cyrus live, she posted footage of her show in Chile over the weekend, in which she hilariously reads out what’s written on the signs that her fans are holding up in the audience. When she reads a sign that reads, “F**k Nick Jonas” — Miley’s ex-boyfriend from her Disney days — the crowd cheers and screams, to which Miley responds, “I didn’t say it!” When the crowd cheers louder, she clarifies, “I didn’t say it! It’s just one of the other signs!”
Britney Spears fans who were hoping that the deletion of the singer’s Instagram last week was a sign that something big was being announced were no doubt left confused when the account was restored, with all the same photos as before. Maybe it was just an accidental delete?
Get-well wishes go out to BTS‘ Jin: According to Billboard, the fan community platform Weverse announced over the weekend that the singer damaged the tendons in his left index finger and had to undergo surgery to repair them. The update noted that Jin “will wear a cast for the time being for stabilization and a speedy recovery.”
(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, will appear on Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first of four days of high-profile confirmation hearings.
Monday’s session kicked off with up to 10-minute opening statements from Senate Judiciary Committee members, five-minute statements from outside introducers, and then 10 minutes from Jackson herself.
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the nation’s second most powerful court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will face questions from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats over two days, starting Tuesday. On Thursday, senators can ask questions of the American Bar Association and other outside witnesses.
While Democrats have the votes to confirm President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee on their own, and hope to by the middle of April, the hearings could prove critical to the White House goal of securing at least some Republican support and shoring up the court’s credibility. Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes.
Jackson, who would replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer if confirmed, has spent the last month meeting with senators from both parties behind closed doors on Capitol Hill ahead of publicly testifying to her qualifications for the nation’s highest court.
Here is how the news is developing. Check back for updates:
Mar 21, 5:31 pm
Schumer dismisses GOP’s ‘desperate broadsides’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday he remains “confident” that the Senate is on track to confirm Jackson as 116th justice of the Supreme Court “by the end of this work period,” which concludes April 8.
“Over the course of the week, I expect the American people will finally see for themselves why Judge Jackson is one of the most-qualified individuals ever to be nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Schumer said.
The Democrat continued, “I also trust that Americans will see right through the misleading and desperate broadsides that a few members of the other side have launched against the judge in recent weeks.”
“We need not pretend that wild accusations from self-interested actors deserve to be taken seriously,” he said. “So color me skeptical that the American people will give them much weight.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Mar 21, 4:54 pm
KBJ ‘poised,’ ‘handled herself well’
Yvette McGee Brown, the first Black woman Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court, told ABC News Live she thinks Ketanji Brown Jackson “handled herself well” at Monday’s hearing.
“She was poised, she smiled,” McGee Brown said. “The cameras are on her constantly, so if she smiled at the wrong time, somebody might take something inappropriate from that smile, making it look like she wasn’t taking the process seriously. So I think the way she came across was being thoughtful, listening, hearing what they were saying, nodding occasionally. But it was the right approach.”
McGee Brown said she thinks Jackson’s background as a public defender would bring a “beneficial” “perspective” to the court.
“We want to make sure that the system lives up to the constitutional balance that the framers have put in place. It is the state’s burden to prove defendants have committed a crime — her role as a public defender was to put the state through their burden and to represent her client zealously,” McGee Brown said. “I think bringing that perspective to the court will be beneficial. It will give everyone an opportunity to understand what it’s like for people who can’t afford their own lawyer, and hopefully during this process it will educate the public about how important it is to have both sides fairly represented.”
Mar 21, 4:40 pm
Psaki: KBJ ‘certainly deserves’ bipartisan support
Asked by ABC News whether the White House believes Jackson’s potential confirmation would be bipartisan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she “certainly deserves that.”
“Without being able to get into the minds of a range of Republican members,” Psaki said, “our view’s that given she has been confirmed three times with bipartisan support, that she has extensive experience, that she has ruled in favor of Democrats and Republicans under leaders of both parties, that she certainly deserves that. But we will see what the outcome ends up being.”
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Mar 21, 4:37 pm
Sherpa Doug Jones previews KBJ’s responses Tuesday
Former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, the Biden administration’s sherpa for Jackson as she undergoes the Senate confirmation process, followed Monday’s opening statements by previewing what to expect from Jackson on Tuesday.
“What I think you’re gonna hear from Judge Jackson tomorrow is the way she goes about judging and a process and a methodology that some will call a philosophy, others will just call it a process, but it’s going to be very, very consistent with what you heard today from almost everybody on that dias of what they want in a Supreme Court justice,” he said. “Fairness, impartiality, judicial restraint, not staying in a judicial lane, not being a policymaker — that’s what you’re going to hear the next two days from this judge.”
Asked how he expects Jackson to respond to accusations that she’s “soft on crime,” Jones said it will be “very simple for her to make the argument because she’s going to point to her record.”
“If she was truly a judge with a demonstrated history — a judge — with a demonstrated history of being ‘soft on crime,’ she would not have been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Police Chiefs, attorney generals from across the country from both sides of the aisle, former DOJ officials, former national security officials, former George W. Bush officials — that wouldn’t happen,” Jones said.
He said attacks from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., were “not surprising” and that Jackson will be able to talk about each of the seven cases he’s taken issue with over the next two days.
Mar 21, 4:13 pm
Citing ‘red flags,’ McConnell vows GOP will conduct ‘rigorous review’ of ‘likable’ KBJ
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out the GOP’s line of attack against Judge Jackson’s record on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, outlining what he called “red flags” that detract from her historic nomination.
Painting her as a judge with limited experience on the bench, McConnell said Republicans know very little about her judicial philosophy and emphasized that she has issued just two written opinions on the appeals court — both released after the opening on the high court became public. Notably, Jackson authored nearly 600 opinions during her eight years as a trial court judge.
“There is no meaningful sample size of appellate opinions or senators to consult,” McConnell said. “The country needs a respectful, dignified, but vigorous, exhaustive hearing.”
McConnell conceded that Jackson is “likable,” but stressed that he voted against her for her current post, adding that she hasn’t resolved his concerns about whether she’ll follow the law as written.
“I want to hear whether the judge actually agrees that the job the judge is to follow the law as it is read a simple straightforward proposition,” he said. “The judge’s job is to bring neutrality, not an agenda.”
For her part, Jackson said in her opening statement that she decides cases “from a neutral posture… without fear of favor.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Mar 21, 4:06 pm
Confirmation hearings continue Tuesday
After nearly four and a half hours of opening statements on Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will reconvene Tuesday at 9 a.m. when Judge Jackson will begin two days of intense questioning from the committee’s 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
Members will speak in order of seniority, with 30 minutes each for questions Tuesday and 20 minutes Wednesday.
Democrats are expected to continue their defense of Jackson against GOP attacks on her record as a federal public defender and in response to allegations she’s “soft on crime.” The Biden White House is aiming for at least a few Republicans to vote to confirm the president’s nominee.
With members of the public invited into the hearing room for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered doors, public seats were nearly full for Jackson’s opening statement, with numerous African American women in the room.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Mar 21, 3:53 pm
Jackson says she stands on the ‘shoulders of so many’
Noting she has almost a decade of experience on the bench, Jackson said she approaches the law with a “careful adherence to precedent” and joked that her opinions “tend to be on the long side…because I also believe in transparency — that people should know precisely what I think and the basis for my decision.”
“I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts, and I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor,” she said. “I know that my role as a judge is a limited one. But the Constitution empowers me only to decide cases that are properly presented.”
Jackson continued, “All of my professional experiences, including my work as a public defender and a trial judge have instilled in me the importance of having each litigant know that the judge in the case has heard them, whether or not their arguments prevail in court.”
Wrapping up her opening statement and the first time she’s spoken formally before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jackson acknowledged those who came before her.
“I stand on the shoulders of so many who have come before me, including Judge Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American woman to be appointed to the federal bench and with whom I share a birthday,” Jackson said. “And like Judge Motley, I have dedicated my career to ensuring that the words engraved on the front of the Supreme Court building ‘equal justice under law’ are a reality and not just an idea.”
“Thank you for this historic chance to join the highest court to work with brilliant colleagues to inspire future generations — and to ensure liberty and justice for all,” she said in closing.
Jackson will face marathon questioning round from senators on Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of the American Bar Association and outside witnesses speaking to her qualifications on Thursday.
Mar 21, 3:39 pm
Jackson on Breyer: ‘I would hope to carry on his spirit’
Jackson in her opening remarks honored Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who she clerked for and whose seat she would fill if confirmed.
She said, “I know that I could never fill his shoes. But if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit.”
She quoted something Breyer said on the day of his own nomination to the Supreme Court: “What is law supposed to do, seen as a whole? It is supposed to allow all people — all people — to live together in a society, where they have so many different views, so many different needs, to live together in a way that is more harmonious, that is better, so that they can work productively together.”
Jackson vowed, “If I am confirmed, I commit to you that I will work productively to support and defend the Constitution and the grand experiment of American democracy that has endured over these past 246 years.”
Mar 21, 3:36 pm
Jackson nods to her family in hearing room
After thanking her parents, siblings, husband and in-laws for being in the hearing room to support her, Jackson reserved a “special moment” in her introduction to thank her daughters, Talia, 21, and Leila, 17.
“Girls, I know it has not been easy as I have tried to navigate the challenges of juggling my career and motherhood. And I fully admit that I did not always get the balance right, but I hope that you have seen that with hard work, determination and love, it can be done,” she said.
“I am so looking forward to seeing what each of you chooses to do with your amazing lives in this incredible country. I love you so much,” Jackson added.
Jackson’s husband, Patrick, a general surgeon, was seen wiping away tears in the chamber as Jackson spoke.
Mar 21, 3:33 pm
Jackson thanks God in opening statement
Ketanji Brown Jackson in her opening remarks said she wanted to “reaffirm my thanks to God, for it is faith that sustains me at this moment. Even prior to today, I can honestly say that my life had been blessed beyond measure.”
With her parents looking on, Jackson addressed how her parents “experienced lawful racial segregation first-hand” and moved from Miami to Washington, D.C. before she was born.
“My parents taught me that, unlike the many barriers that they had had to face growing up, my path was clearer, such that if I worked hard and believed in myself, in America I could do anything or be anything I wanted to be,” she said. “Like so many families in this country, they worked long hours and sacrificed to provide their children every opportunity to reach their God-given potential. My parents have been married for 54 years, and they are here with me today; I cannot possibly thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me.”
Mar 21, 3:30 pm
KBJ’s former Harvard roommate introduces her personal side
Judge Jackson’s second introducer, professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, was her roommate for most of college and law school at Harvard University and spoke to Jackson’s personal side.
Fairfax described Jackson as a “sister” and “the friend that makes sure we all belong too.”
“She showed us how by the power of her example of hard work, preparation, and excellence that transformed the seemingly impossible into the achievable,” she said, calling her the “rock” of their friend group.
“We knew early on she could be anything she chose to be, but also that she seemed destined to be a judge because of her ability to see all sides,” she continued. “Above all, Ketanji is humble enough not to pretend she knows how to have it all, but she does know how to give it all. What she gives to her family, her friends, she also gives to the law — and this country.”
Mar 21, 3:26 pm
Republican-nominated judge stresses Jackson is ‘an independent jurist’
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s first introducer, Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, was nominated by a Republican. He introduced Jackson on Monday and told the Senate Judiciary Committee, “Although we did not always agree on that outcome the law required, I respected her diligent and careful approach, her deep understanding and her collegial manner.”
Griffith often reviewed Jackson’s decisions as a trial judge while he served on the Court of Appeals and wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month in support of Jackson’s confirmation.
Griffith called Jackson “an independent jurist who adjudicates based on the facts and the law and not as a partisan. Time and again she has demonstrated that impartiality.”
Mar 21, 3:25 pm
Blackburn grills Jackson on ‘hidden agendas’
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., launched into a series on concerns over Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, taking particular issue with Jackson apparently telling her in their meeting on Capitol Hill that she does not have a judicial philosophy.
“The American people deserve a Supreme Court justice with a documented commitment to the text of the Constitution and the rule of law, not a judicial activist who will attempt to make policy from the bench. Without a judicial philosophy, a judge is legally adrift and it will be inclined to consider policy rather than law,” Blackburn said.
The senator from Tennessee suggested Jackson used the COVID-19 pandemic as justification to release criminals and also took issue with Jackson as a federal public defender for Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying, “You used your time and talent not to serve our veterans or other vulnerable groups, but to provide free legal services to help terrorists.”
“The American people want a justice who will protect their families’ freedoms, not allow government overreach. Moms that I am speaking with raised the issue of crime. You have consistently called for greater freedom for hardened criminals,” Blackburn added.
She also echoed arguments raised by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that Jackson was too lenient on child porn criminals, although ABC News reporting found Hawley’s claims misleading.
“You once wrote that every judge has ‘personal, hidden agendas” that influence how they decide cases,” Blackburn said. “I can only wonder, what your hidden agenda is. Is it to let child predators back to the streets? Is it to restrict parental rights and expand government into our schools and private family decisions? Is it to support the radical left’s attempt to pack the Supreme Court?”
Mar 21, 3:13 pm
Judiciary members continue opening remarks
Senate Judiciary Committee members continued opening statements in the afternoon ahead of an opening statement from Jackson herself.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., echoed Democrats who have touted the historic nature of Biden’s appointment, saying, “Even before your first opinion or dissent, your appearance before us today already begins a new chapter in our nation’s history.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he hopes the hearings will focus on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy and the appropriate balance of government. He also offered compliments to the Biden White House for selecting former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones to serve as Jackson’s sherpa, and Jones appeared to respond with a soft smile.
“Senator Jones knows the Senate and the Senate knows Senator Jones,” Kennedy said.
Offering the most praise for Jackson on the Republican side thus far, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., spoke to her qualifications and character and said he’s currently reading Jackson’s Harvard University thesis. He expects to finish it by Tuesday’s questioning.
Mar 21, 2:51 pm
Senate on ‘precipice of shattering another ceiling’: Booker
After Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., launched into a series of attacks on the Biden administration, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. — one of only three African American senators in the chamber and the only African American on the Judiciary Committee — took a more optimistic tone in his opening statement, calling the day “joyful.”
“Forgive me, I grew up in a small Black church where I was taught to make a joyous noise under the Lord,” Booker said through a grin. “This is not a normal day for America. We have never had this moment before. I just want to talk about the joy.”
“Today is a day of joy. Today is a day of joy. Today we should rejoice. President Biden nominated someone we have heard who is extraordinarily talented, who also happens to be a Black woman,” he said, in an apparent swipe at critics.
Booker acknowledged that Tuesday and Wednesday’s marathon questioning from senators will be “tough” but said the American people should not overlook the history-making moment before them.
“The Senate is poised right now to break another barrier. We are on the precipice of shattering another ceiling, another glass ceiling,” he said. “We are continuing to rise to our collective idea. I just feel the sense of overwhelming joy as I see you sitting there, as I see your family sitting behind you.”
He also recalled how Jackson’s daughter, Leila, present in the hearing room, wrote a letter to then-President Barack Obama asking for him to put her mother on the Supreme Court. Now, with Democrats holding a razor-thin majority in the Senate, she’s headed for confirmation.
“Generations of little young girls and generations of young boys — no matter who their parents are — will have the audacity to write the president of the United States, whether they are daughters of white parents, Black parents, biracial parents, Muslim and Jewish parents, we are going to see a new generation of children talking about their mamas,” Booker said. “And daring to write to the president of the United States of America.”
“I want to tell your daughter right now, that dream of hers is so close to being a reality,” he added. “It is a tough day ahead but I think it could happen.”
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Mar 21, 2:28 pm
Confirmation hearings resume
After a 30-minute break, the Senate Judiciary Committee reconvened for confirmation hearings for Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court.
Seven more senators will deliver opening statements before the public hears from two introducers and then Jackson herself.
Democrats have continued to highlight the significance of the moment as Monday marks the first time the Senate has considered a Black woman for the nation’s highest court. They have also used their time to defend Biden’s nominee against GOP attacks that she’s “soft on crime,” touting her ties to law enforcement and her endorsement from the fraternal order of police.
Several Republicans, meanwhile, have raised past grievances regarding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, suggesting their nominee wasn’t treated fairly in 2018.
“We won’t try to turn this into a spectacle based on alleged process fouls,” said Ranking Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. “On that front, we’re off to a good start.”
Mar 21, 1:38 pm
Confirmation hearings enter break
The Senate Judiciary Committee has gone into a 30-minute break following a morning of opening statements from Democrats and Republicans on the committee considering Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
After the break, seven more senators have opening statements to deliver before the public hears from two introducers and Jackson herself.
Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will have five minutes each to introduce Jackson, whom they know personally.
Griffith often reviewed Jackson’s decisions as a trial judge while he served on the Court of Appeals and wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month in support of Jackson’s confirmation. Fairfax and Jackson were roommates for most of college and law school at Harvard University.
Jackson’s 10-minute opening statement will air on ABC News Television network with special coverage.
Mar 21, 1:35 pm
Sasse raises the ‘Ginsburg rule’
The Ginsburg rule, named for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who famously deflected senators’ questions when asked at her confirmation hearings how she would rule on a hypothetical case, follows the thinking that justices shouldn’t hint at how they would rule because they should be open-minded when an actual case comes before them.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in his opening statement that despite the Ginsburg rule, Jackson should be able to answer in detail questions about her own judicial philosophy — and how she goes about deciding a case.
“It’s incredibly important for a judge to tell us how she or he works out those principles in times that are new and confusing,” Sasse said. “Unfortunately, too many of the court’s decisions do not rest on solid constitutional foundations and reliable legal reasoning. Justices have too often written decisions to claim partisan policy victories and then retrofit bad legal or decision-making to justify that ruling.”
“It’s for that reason that, while we should all respect the Ginsburg rule, the idea that judges sitting before this panel should not weigh in on hypothetical cases likely to come before the court, nominees do, nonetheless, have a duty to be very clear about their judicial philosophy, their legal views and interpretive principles,” he continued. “The American people should not be asked to consent to any nominee who operates on principles that are obscure, confused or concealed.”
Mar 21, 1:26 pm
Blumenthal praises ‘giant leap into present’ with Jackson’s nomination
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., spoke about the historic nature of the hearings — the first time in 233 years the Senate will consider the nomination of a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
“Historic is a word often overused in this place where a lot of history is made, but today seems truly to merit it,” Blumenthal began. “Certainly it is an inflection point — an inflection pinnacle — for our nation. The appointment of a Black woman to the United States Supreme Court — let’s be very blunt — should have happened years ago.”
“This day is a giant leap into the present for our country and the court,” he added. “The appointment of a Black woman to the court will make the court look more like America. Hopefully, too, it will make the court think more like America.”
Blumenthal went on to praise Jackson’s experience as a public defender, saying the American justice system works best when there is good counsel on both sides. Jackson is the first nominee to the nation’s highest court with a background as a public defender.
“Representation matters for the legitimacy and credibility of our judicial system,” he said. “People walking into your courtroom or any other in this country look to the human being, not just to the robes.”
“Your presence will ensure the court more fully and deeply understands the lives and experiences of everyday Americans,” he added.
Mar 21, 1:14 pm
Republicans relive Kavanaugh hearings in opening statements
Republicans have continually used their opening statements in Jackson’s confirmation hearings to lament Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings to the court in 2018.
Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, all brought up Kavanaugh in their opening statements, claiming Jackson will be treated with more respect.
“Judge Jackson, I can assure you that your hearing will feature none of that disgraceful behavior,” Cruz said. “No one is going to inquire into your teenage dating habits. No one is going to ask you with mock severity, ‘Do you like beer?'”
Cruz attempted to get ahead of the argument, he said, that rigorous questioning or a vote against Jackson’s confirmation means “you must somehow harbor racial animus” and went on to list instances when Democrats blocked nominations of racial minorities to judicial posts.
A theme emerging for Democrats, meanwhile, has been to preempt attacks from Republicans that Jackson is “soft on crime” with several of them speaking about her ties to law enforcement.
Mar 21, 12:46 pm
Klobuchar compliments Jackson’s family values — and wardrobe
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., ticked through Judge Jackson’s qualifications to the high court in her opening statement but first, she took a moment to compliment her “bold purple” blazer and turned to Jackson’s family values.
“If Senator Whitehouse is pleased that you once clerked for a Rhode Island judge, we, in Minnesota, are equally happy that you are wearing bold purple today, winning over both Prince and Minnesota Vikings fans the world over,” she joked.
Klobuchar also welcomed Jackson’s husband, Patrick, two daughters, Talia and Lelia, and parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, all seated inside the hearing room, and told Jackson it was clear, “your family has been a constant source of inspiration and support for you.”
“While these hearings are truly an opportunity for my colleagues have pointed out for Americans to get to know your legal acumen, we also learned about your background, your experiences, your values, and for so many of us, including people watching this hearing across the country, our values start with our family,” she said.
As many senators had before her, Klobuchar also acknowledged the historic nature of Jackson’s nomination.
“You, judge, are opening a door that’s long been shut to so many and by virtue of your strong presence, your skills, your experience, you are showing so many little girls and little boys across the country that anything and everything is possible,” she said.
Klobuchar also noted the historic timing of the hearings — “at a moment in our history when the people of this country are once again seeing, this time in Ukraine, that democracy can never be taken for granted. Eternal vigilance, it’s been said, is the price of liberty.”
Mar 21, 12:31 pm
GOP to drill Jackson on record defending Guantanamo Bay detainees
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, echoing Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also raised a red flag at the support Judge Jackson has gotten from progressive advocacy groups like Demand Justice, saying he is “troubled” that the same group that supports so-called “court-packing” or expanding the Supreme Court.
He said that he’s concerned that she hasn’t clarified her position on the matter. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has raised a similar objection.
Cornyn also warned Jackson that he, like Graham, intended to drill down on Jackson’s role defending Guantanamo Bay detainees both as a federal public defender and in private practice.
“This is not your first rodeo,” he said. “You’ve had an impressive record as a trial court judge and appellate court. I like the fact you have such broad experience in our judicial and legal system but there’s still unanswered questions that remain.”
“As someone who has deep respect for the adversarial system of justice, I understand the importance of zealous advocacy, but it appears that sometimes this zealous advocacy has gone beyond the pale, and in some instances, it appears that your advocacy has bled over into your decision-making process as a judge,” he added.
He immediately noted that Jackson has been overturned in some high-profile cases.
“You’ve had some cases reversed, like all judges do, but some of them were particularly high profile when you ruled against a Republican administration,” he said. “I’m eager to understand why in some instances, you found you could not decide a particular issue while in other instances, you adjoined a Republican administration from implementing its policies.”
Mar 21, 12:23 pm
Graham previews tough questioning from GOP
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he’s in favor of a more diverse court but said he has not yet pledged support for Judge Jackson.
“I think it’s good for the court to look like America, so count me in on the idea of making the court more diverse,” he said, but adding he has also said, “I want the court to play a particular role in America … make it operate in the confines of the Constitution.”
Attempting to get ahead of any political backlash to GOP questioning, Graham said he’s interested in Jackson’s record as a public defender during Guantanamo Bay proceedings and told Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., to ask about her record as a federal district judge, calling it “fair game.” ABC News reporting found Hawley’s claims were misleading.
“The bottom line here is when it is about philosophy when it’s somebody of color on our side. It’s about we’re all racist if we ask hard questions. It’s not going to fly with us,” Graham said.
“We’re going to ask you what we think you need to be asked,” he added.
The South Carolina senator claimed that progressive groups came to Jackson’s aid “at the expense of Judge Childs,” whom he pledged to support had Biden nominated her, adding she “would have gotten 60-plus votes.” Jackson has said she knew nothing of the endorsement from the progressive advocacy group Demand Justice in a committee questionnaire.
Graham said the hearings will be “challenging” for Jackson, “informative” for the American public, and “respectful” by the committee.
Mar 21, 12:19 pm
Grassley reminds committee members of their goal
Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, complained that the committee hasn’t received all of the records Republicans originally sought from Jackson’s time on the sentencing commission but offered a bit of praise.
“We’re off to a good start,” Grassley said, comparing Jackson’s hearings against those for Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
As senators have used Supreme Court confirmation hearings in recent years for political grandstanding, Grassley also reminded the committee of its purpose.
“In any Supreme Court nomination, the most important thing we look for is the nominee’s view of the law, judicial philosophy and view on the role of a judge. I’ll be looking to see whether Judge Jackson is committed to the Constitution as originally understood,” he said.
Mar 21, 11:52 am
Democrats defend Jackson against GOP attacks
After drawing a contrast between America of the past and present, from a nation that once had hundreds of thousands of enslaved people to that of a “more perfect union,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., defended Jackson against concerns voiced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and some other Republicans that, as a former public defender, she will have “special empathy” as some Democrats touted.
“The cameras and the lights here today can make it easy to forget that at its core the responsibility you seek is one of service — and I’m fully confident you’ll serve Americans from all walks of life, all backgrounds fairly and faithfully,” Durbin said.
“Now there may be some who claim without a shred of evidence that you’ll be a rubber stamp for this president. For those would-be critics, I have four words: Look at the record,” he added.
Pointing out that the committee has already scoured her records now on four different occasions and seen “every published and reported word you’ve written or spoken,” Durbin said, “For those who say they need more, I would answer that you’ve sat down personally with every member of the dais of the committee, Democrats and Republicans.”
In what’s likely to become a theme for Democrats, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., echoed Durbin’s defense.
“Judge Jackson is not anti-law enforcement. She hails from a law enforcement family. She’s also won the support of preeminent national law enforcement organizations including the national fraternal order of police,” Leahy said. “And no, she’s not soft on crime. Her background as a federal public defender would bring an informed perspective of our criminal justice system to the Supreme Court.”
Mar 21, 11:31 am
Biden tweets support for Jackson
In a show of support for his nominee, Biden tweeted a video from Judge Jackson’s nomination ceremony at the White House ahead of her confirmation hearings Monday.
“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is a brilliant legal mind with the utmost character and integrity,” the tweet read. “She deserves to be confirmed as the next Justice of the Supreme Court.”
Democrats, with 50 seats in the Senate and Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaking vote, already have the votes to confirm Jackson, but the White House is hoping to secure Republican votes and the approval of the American public with this week’s hearings.
Mar 21, 11:29 am
Durbin opens historic hearings
Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., gaveled in the hearings at 11:02 a.m. — marking the first time in 233 years that the Senate will consider the nomination of a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
“The rule of law has stood the test of time, but the reality is that the court’s members have never really reflected the nation they served,” Durbin said.
“Today is a proud day for America,” he continued, noting he saw many young African American women on the steps of the Supreme Court at a rally for Jackson’s confirmation earlier this morning.
Durbin also had a preemptive message for Republicans on the committee like Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who are expected to attack Jackson’s credibility, noting that she’s been vetted three times by the Senate and confirmed.
“Despite your record, we’ve heard claims that you’re, quote, soft on crime. These baseless charges are unfair,” he said.
“You, Judge Jackson, are one of Mr. Lincoln’s living witnesses of an America that is unafraid of challenge, willing to risk change, confident of the basic goodness of our citizens — and you are living witness to the fact that in America all is possible,” Durbin continued.
Mar 21, 11:06 am
Jackson’s family in the room as confirmation hearings kick off
Confirmation hearings for Judge Jackson — Biden’s first nominee to the Supreme Court — are officially underway. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., gaveled them in just after 11 a.m.
To begin, the committee’s 22 members will each have 10 minutes each for opening statements ahead of two introducers to Jackson and an opening statement from Jackson herself.
If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court.
A Monmouth University Poll released this morning found a majority of Americans (55%) say Jackson should be confirmed as an associate justice on the Supreme Court. Only 21% say she should not be confirmed, and 24% offered no opinion.
Jackson’s husband, Patrick, two daughters, Talia and Lelia, and her parents, Johnny Brown and Ellery Brown, are all in attendance for the historic event.
In a sign of pandemic restrictions easing across the country and in Washington, almost no one in the hearing room was wearing a mask.
Mar 21, 10:31 am
Ketanji Brown Jackson: The meaning behind the name
Judge Jackson recounted in a 2017 speech that her parents, Johnny and Ellery Brown, wanting to show pride in their African ancestry, asked her aunt, who was then in the Peace Corps in West Africa, for a list of African girl names.
Taking one of her suggestions, Jackson’s parents named her Ketanji Onyika, which translates to “lovely one.”
Jackson’s parents grew up in South Florida under segregation, “but never gave up hope that their children would enjoy the true promise of America,” Biden said at a White House event last month introducing Jackson.
Biden said Jackson was a “star student” who fell in love with a law career while watching her own father going to law school at the University of Miami, often drawing on coloring books at the dining room table next to her father’s homework. Jackson went on to attend Harvard Law School herself, despite some cautioning her against setting her sights too high.
“My life has been blessed beyond measure and I do know that one can only come this far by faith,” Jackson said at the White House. “Among my many blessings, the very first is the fact that I was born in this great country. The United States of America is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known.”
She married Patrick Jackson, a general surgeon, in 1996, and the couple has two daughters, Talia, 21, and Leila, 17.
Mar 21, 10:22 am
In nominating Jackson, Biden fulfilled campaign pledge
With Biden’s nomination of Judge Jackson, he officially followed through on his 2020 campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court and his vow to make the high court look more “like America.”
“For too long our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” Biden said at a White House event last month introducing his historic pick. “And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications. And that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level.”
A former clerk to retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson has more than eight years experience on the federal bench, following a path through the judiciary traveled by many nominees before her. If confirmed, she would be the first federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court and the first justice since Thurgood Marshall to have criminal defense experience.
“She listens. She looks people in the eye, lawyers, defendants, victims and families. And she strives to ensure that everyone understands why she made a decision, what the law is and what it means to them,” Biden said. “She strives to be fair, to get it right, to do justice.”
While the White House was eager to follow through on Biden’s pledge, an ABC News/Ipsos poll from January found just 23% of Americans said they wanted him to automatically follow through on his history-making commitment. Over three-quarters of Americans (76%) said they wanted Biden to consider “all possible nominees.”
Mar 21, 10:02 am
Jackson preps for intense hearings by — knitting
While Judge Jackson has more experience fielding questions during high-intensity Senate hearings than any Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991, she has described the process as “extremely nerve-wracking,” although she’s seen Senate confirmation three times.
To offset that nervous energy, Jackson says she took up — knitting.
“The lights are as bright as they are in here, in terms of cameras and attention, and you do your best not to make a fool of yourself in front of the senators,” Jackson said in a conversation for the D.C. Circuit Historical Society in 2019.
She said that she “started so many scarves I could have outfitted a small army,” recalling her first Senate confirmation process in 2012, when she was nominated by then-President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. District Court in Washington. She currently sits on currently sits Washington’s federal appellate court.
Ahead of this week’s marathon questioning, Jackson met one-on-one with 44 senators ahead of her hearings next week, including all members of the Judiciary Committee and its 11 Republican members, according to former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, the White House “sherpa” for the nominee, escorting her on Capitol Hill.
Mar 21, 9:40 am
Some in GOP paint Jackson as ‘soft on crime,’ White House rejects accusation
Several GOP senators have telegraphed plans to question Judge Jackson’s defense of detainees at Guantanamo Bay as a private defense attorney, her support of reduced sentences for convicted drug offenders and the backing of her nomination by outside progressive advocacy groups.
In a sign the hearings could get contentious, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri — a former Supreme Court clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts and a potential presidential hopeful — suggested in a barrage of tweets Thursday that Jackson has a “long record” of letting child porn offenders “off the hook” and suggested she is “soft on crime.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back last week, calling it a “last-ditched eve-of-hearing desperation attack.”
“The facts are that, in the vast majority of cases involving child sex crimes, broadly, the sentences Judge Jackson imposed were consistent with or above what the government or U.S. probation [authorities] recommended. And so, this attack that we’ve seen over the last couple of days relies on factual inaccuracies and taking Judge Jackson’s record wildly out of context,” Psaki said.
While court records show that Jackson did impose lighter sentences than federal guidelines suggested, Hawley’s insinuation neglects critical context, including the fact that the senator himself has voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also engaged in the same practice. ABC News’ Devin Dwyer fact checks Hawley here.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:23 am
Will any Republicans vote for Jackson?
Judge Jackson has been vetted twice previously by the Judiciary Committee and twice confirmed by the full Senate as a judge — most recently last year, with three Republican votes. She was also confirmed by the Senate in 2010 as vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
GOP Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Lindsey Graham voted in favor of Judge Jackson’s confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in June 2021, but after private meetings with Jackson this month, all three were noncommittal about supporting her again.
While Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin has said he is hopeful more than three Republicans will support the nomination this time around, GOP Whip Sen. John Thune said last week he would be surprised it that were the case.
“I think it’s important to recognize that she has been confirmed three times now, so this is not a candidate who is a blank slate to us,” Collins said after spending more than 90 minutes one-on-one with Jackson. “I will, of course, await the hearings before the Judiciary Committee before making a decision.”
No Republican senator has publicly disputed Jackson’s qualification to be a justice, though several have raised concerns about her rulings and presumed judicial philosophy.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Mar 21, 9:06 am
What to expect at Monday’s hearings
Monday marks the first day of four high-profile hearings where the Senate Judiciary Committee and American people will hear from Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — President Joe Biden’s first Supreme Court nominee and the first Black woman nominated to the nation’s highest court in its 233-year history.
The hearings will gavel in at 11 a.m. with 10-minute statements from the committee’s 11 Republican and 11 Democratic members. Following member opening statements, Judge Thomas Griffith, formerly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and professor Lisa Fairfax of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will have five minutes each to introduce Jackson, whom they know personally.
Finally, Judge Jackson will then deliver an opening statement in the afternoon for 10 minutes. ABC News will air special coverage of her remarks.
And for the first time since the pandemic, for each half-hour of the proceeding, up to 60 members of the public invited by senators will also be allowed to attend.
Last summer, Adam Levine and wife Behati Prinsloo invited fans to tour their gorgeous mansion in Pacific Palisades, California, in an Architectural Digest video. But now, TMZ is reporting that the couple are unloading the place for $25 million more than they paid for it.
As TMZ notes, Adam bought the house from Ben Affleck and his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner, for $32 million in 2019, and he’s now listing it for a whopping $57.5 million. Of course, Adam and Behati did extensively renovate the estate and grounds after purchasing the place.
According to the real-estate website Dirt, the estate sits on more than three acres of land and includes a main house and a four-bedroom guest house, for a total of 10 bedrooms and 14 baths in 16,000 square feet of living space. It’s also got every amenity, from a pool, fire pit and basketball court outside, to a sauna, fireplaces, a gym, a combination movie theater/arcade and a gourmet kitchen.
Dirt also notes that when Adam and Behati made the video for Architectural Digest, Adam announced that he was “never leaving” and said the house wasn’t for sale…”for at least a year.” The couple has a history of flipping homes: They’ve done it twice before, making millions in the process.
