Black clergy claim Sen. Tim Scott refused to meet on Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation

NORTH CHARLESTON S.C. - Members of the Black clergy in the Lowcountry are voicing concerns that U.S. Sen. Tim Scott refused to meet with them about their concerns over the confirmation process of the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The National Action Network and members of clergy held a news conference Friday morning at noon at North Charleston City Hall to address their concerns. In a news release, the group says Scott would not meet with them to discuss the “despicable treatment” of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was eventually confirmed for the nation’s highest court.

“Sen. Scott’s vote against the most qualified judge to be nominated to the Supreme Court in modern times, not my opinion, but consensus, placed him on the wrong side of history,” the Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III, the vice president of the National Action Network, said. “As the first Black U.S. senator appointed and elected from the state of South Carolina in modern times, and frankly, the first senator of his race to serve since Reconstruction in the United States Senate, gave him a unique opportunity to do something that our ancestors our work has waited for and look forward to for hundreds of years, he had an opportunity to put principle love of family love of community by party and above nonsense. Sen. Scott had a historic opportunity, and I believe a solemn obligation to vote yes.”

Rivers said he was “troubled and frankly hurt” that Scott “did not defend Jackson’s character against the assassinations and the most outrageous and disgraceful treatment any nominee has faced during his time in the Senate.”

Rivers said the group requested a meeting with Scott, but Scott eventually responded to the request, stating in an email, “I will not be able to meet with y’all,” and that the group could meet with Scott’s staff.

“I wrote back to tell the senator, ‘We didn’t vote for your staff and the staff were not on the ballot,’” Rivers said.

He said Scott never got back to them about an alternative date and time.

“Members of the clergy wanted to share with Sen. Scott their concerns and disgust with the treatment of Judge Brown Jackson and Sen. Scott’s vote against her historic nomination,” the release states. “Sen. Scott has refused to meet with Black clergy to discuss our concerns, so tomorrow, many members of the clergy will make their concerns known publicly to Sen. Scott.”

[SOURCE WMBF]

Cory Booker on Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings: Outrageous and beyond the pale.”

During an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says Republican behavior during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination hearings were “very different” than the previous confirmation hearings.

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says Republican behavior during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination hearings were “very different” than the previous confirmation hearings. #MTP @CoryBooker: "What we saw though this week was to me, outrageous and beyond the pale.” pic.twitter.com/ohTMYCARGD

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 27, 2022

VIDEO: Cory Booker questions Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Day 2 of her confirmation hearings

Watch Senator Cory Booker question Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearing to be a Supreme Court justice.

Watch: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic opening statement in Supreme Court confirmation hearings

Watch Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s opening statement in her historic Supreme Court confirmation hearings below.

American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson “Well Qualified”

The American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has completed its evaluation of the professional qualifications of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee to the United States Supreme Court, and has given her a unanimous rating of “Well Qualified.”

The Standing Committee confines its evaluation to the qualities of integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament. The Honorable Ann Claire Williams (Ret.), chair of the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, is scheduled to testify about the rating before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, March 24.

The ABA’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the rating can be read here.

The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. 

International Association of Chiefs of Police endorses Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court

In a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, the International Association of Chiefs of Police urged senators to confirm U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

“Judge Jackson has several family members in law enforcement, and we believe this has given her a deep understanding of, and appreciation for, the challenges and complexities confronting the policing profession,” Chief Dwight E. Henninger, IACP president, wrote in the letter.

The endorsement comes a week before Jackson’s hearings are set to begin in the committee.

The IACP is the largest professional association for police leaders and includes 31,000 members in more than 165 countries. Jackson has also been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, dozens of police chiefs and sheriffs, and 83 Republican and Democratic former attorneys general.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson remarks on her nomination to the Supreme Court

Watch Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson comment on her nomination from the White House.

President Obama Statement on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson nomination to the Supreme Court

Former President Obama released the following statement on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court:

I want to congratulate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on her nomination to the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson has already inspired young Black women like my daughters to set their sights higher, and her confirmation will help them believe they can be anything they want to be.

As a protégé of Justice Breyer, Judge Jackson earned a reputation for pragmatism and consensus building. It’s part of why I nominated her twice – first as a district judge, and then to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, where she earned praise from both Democrats and Republicans.

Like Justice Breyer, Judge Jackson understands that the law isn’t just about abstract theory. It’s about people’s lives. @POTUS Biden has made an excellent choice, and I look forward to seeing Judge Jackson confirmed.

Rep. James Clyburn on what it would mean to have a Black woman on the Supreme Court

Democratic Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina says naming a Black woman like Judge Michelle Childs to the Supreme Court "says to every little child out there growing up in moderate circumstances … you've got just as much of a chance to benefit from the greatness of this country as everybody else."

Three Black women who could be the next Supreme Court Justice

During his campaign President Biden promised to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. With the upcoming retirement of Justice Stephen G. Breyer, Biden now has a chance to keep that promise.

Fortunately there are several qualified candidates, so many in fact that there is almost no excuse not to pick a Black woman. While this article focuses on three perceived favorites, there are several more qualified candidates such as Michelle Alexander,Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley,United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina Anita Earls.

Early discussions about a successor are focusing on U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a 51-year-old judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for Justice Breyer, and Leondra R. Kruger, a 45-year-old justice on the California Supreme Court who graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for former Justice John Paul Stevens.

J. Michelle Childs, who has been nominated but not yet confirmed to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is another option. Childs, currently a federal trial court judge in South Carolina, is a favorite of Clyburn, who made a crucial endorsement of Biden just before that state’s presidential primary.

Leondra Kruger, 45, a justice on the California Supreme Court. A graduate of Harvard and Yale’s law school, she served as a law clerk on the high court before arguing a dozen cases before the court as a lawyer for the federal government.