WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson pledged Monday to decide cases "without fear or favor" if the Senate confirms her historic nomination as the first Black woman on the high court.
Jackson, 51, thanked God and professed love for "our country and the Constitution" in a 12-minute statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee at the end of her first day of confirmation hearings, nearly four hours almost entirely consumed by remarks from the panel's 22 members.
Republicans promised pointed questions over the coming two days, with a special focus on her record on criminal matters. Democrats were full of praise for President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee.
With her family sitting behind her, Jackson stressed that she has been independent, deciding cases "from a neutral posture" in her nine years as a judge and she is mindful of the importance of that role.
"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 ideal," she declared.
Barring a significant misstep, Democrats who control the Senate by the slimmest of margins intend to wrap up her confirmation before Easter. She would be the third Black justice, after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.
Jackson's Republican critics, as well as her Democratic defenders, all acknowledged the historic, barrier-breaking nature of her presence. There were frequent reminders that no Black woman had been nominated to the high court before her and repeated references to another unique aspect of her nomination: Jackson is the first former public defender nominated to be a justice.
"It's not easy being the first. Often, you have to be the best, in some ways the bravest," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committee chairman, said in support.
Democrats sought to preemptively rebut Republican criticism of her record on criminal matters as a judge and before that as a federal public defender and a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Jackson "is not anti-law enforcement," and is not "soft on crime," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said, noting that members of Jackson's family have worked in law enforcement and that she has support from some national law enforcement organizations. "Judge Jackson is no judicial activist."
The committee's senior Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, promised Republicans would "ask tough questions about Jackson's judicial philosophy," without turning the hearings into a "spectacle."
"There are a number of dark money groups on the left that argue federal judges should make policy decisions based on judges' own values," Grassley said in his opening statement. "I've talked about the troubling role of far-left dark money groups, like Demand Justice, have played in this administration's judicial selection process."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., noted that Democrats had opposed some past Republican judicial nominees who were Black or Hispanic, and he said that he and his GOP colleagues wouldn't be deterred by Jackson's race from asking probing questions.
He said of some criticism from the left: "It's about, 'We're all racist if we ask hard questions.' That's not going to fly with us."
Graham bitterly recalled the Brett Kavanaugh hearings and said Republicans would not be launching personal attacks against her.
"There won't be this constant attack on you like Judge Kavanaugh and other conservative judicial appointments," said Graham, who had supported the nomination of another candidate, J. Michelle Childs. "You are the beneficiary of Republican nominees having their lives turned upside down, and it didn't work."
Graham was one of three Republicans to support Jackson's confirmation, 53-44, as an appellate judge last year. But he has indicated over the past several weeks that he is unlikely to vote for her again.
GOP CRITICISM
While few Republicans are likely to vote for her, most GOP senators did not aggressively criticize Jackson, whose confirmation would not change the court's 6-3 conservative majority. Several Republicans used their time to denounce Senate Democrats instead of Jackson's record.
Biden has chosen several former public defenders for life-tenured judicial posts.
According to two people familiar with the process White House officials took to prepare Jackson, she was anticipating lines of criticism that involved her work as a public defender. She has been sharply questioned by Republicans for her work representing detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
"As someone who has deep respect for the adversarial system of justice, I understand the importance of zealot advocacy," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Jackson in his opening statement. "But it appears sometimes this advocacy has gone beyond the pale and in some instances it appears your advocacy has bled over into your decision-making process as a judge."
In addition, Jackson served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an independent agency created by Congress to reduce disparity in federal prison sentences.
With Jackson silently taking notes, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in his opening statement that his research showed that she had a pattern of issuing lower sentences in child pornography cases, repeating comments he wrote in a Twitter thread last week. The Republican National Committee echoed his claims, which Hawley did not raise when he questioned Jackson last year before voting against her appeals court confirmation.
The White House, along with several Democrats at the hearing, has rejected Hawley's criticism as "toxic and weakly presented misinformation."
COTTON'S REMARKS
Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, who is guiding Jackson as she navigates the Senate process, told reporters afterward that "she will be the one to counter many of those questions" from Hawley and others today and Wednesday.
Hawley is one of several committee Republicans, along with Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and their aspirations may collide with other Republicans who would prefer not to pursue a scorched-earth approach to Jackson's nomination.
Cotton avoided attacking Jackson's judicial record Monday, instead focusing a portion of his remarks on criticizing the Biden administration over undocumented immigration. He also directed criticism at an administration effort to require workers at large companies to get the coronavirus vaccination or undergo regular testing.
"The Biden administration is waging a war on the rule of law, the separation of powers and the Constitution," he said.
Cotton said he enjoyed meeting with Jackson last week and said they had a good conversation.
"I'm looking for a justice who will uphold the Constitution, not use it to invent new so-called rights," Cotton said. He indicated that he did not want Jackson to avoid questions about her legal views or her philosophy as a judge.
Her testimony will give most Americans, as well as the Senate, their most extensive look yet at the Harvard-trained lawyer with a broader resume than many nominees. She would be the first justice with significant criminal defense experience since Marshall.
Jackson appeared before the same committee last year, after Biden chose her to fill an opening on the federal appeals court in Washington, just down the hill from the Supreme Court. Cotton previously voted against Jackson's confirmation to the appellate court.
The American Bar Association, which evaluates judicial nominees, has given her its highest rating, "well qualified."
Biden chose Jackson in February, fulfilling a campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court for the first time in American history. She would take the seat of Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced in January that he would retire after 28 years on the court.
Jackson once worked as a law clerk to Breyer early in her legal career. She had special praise for her former boss, saying she could never fill his shoes.
"But if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit," Jackson said.
She also expressed her thanks and love to her husband, Patrick Jackson, a surgeon in Washington who wiped away tears. Their two daughters, one in college and the other in high school, sat in the audience beside him. Her parents and in-laws also were in attendance.
Democrats are moving quickly to confirm Jackson, even though Breyer's seat will not officially open until the summer. They have no votes to spare in a 50-50 Senate that they run by virtue of the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
"There may be some who claim, without a shred of evidence," Durbin said, "that you will be some kind of rubber stamp for the president." Durbin said that her record had been scoured, and any criticism would ignore her qualifications. "I have four words: Look at the record. Your complete record has been scoured by this committee on four different occasions."
Information for this article was contributed by Mark Sherman, Mary Clare Jalonick, Colleen Long, Lisa Mascaro and Aaron Morrison of The Associated Press; by Katie Rogers of The New York Times; and by Ryan Tarinelli of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
People who oppose the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson rally outside of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022. The Senate Judiciary Committee begins historic confirmation hearings Monday for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
FILE - Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks after President Joe Biden announced Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court in the Cross Hall of the White House, Feb. 25, 2022, in Washington. Judge Jackson's confirmation hearing starts March 21. If confirmed, she would be the court's first Black female justice. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson greets Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, watches, as she arrives for her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The path to confirmation to the Supreme Court can be speedy or take months. (AP Graphic)
Supporters of the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson rally outside of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 21, 2022. The Senate Judiciary Committee begins historic confirmation hearings Monday for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson listens during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday, March 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
How senators have voted for the current justices on the Supreme Court, in the Judiciary Committee and the full body. (AP Graphic)Gallery: Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearing
The path to Supreme Court confirmation can be a grueling one. (AP Graphic)