I voted against confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. That’s because I believe that Jackson will make history — but not in the way President Joe Biden and Democrats intended.
Jackson has proven she will be the most progressive justice in American history — a reliable and consistent rubber stamp on our nation’s highest court for the far Left’s activist agenda.
Throughout my career, I have found that nominees to high offices, including the Supreme Court, are best understood by examining their records as well as the individuals or groups advocating on their behalf. Look no further than the liberal dark money group Demand Justice, which has gone all in on Jackson’s nomination. Or take the pro-abortion groups Planned Parenthood and NARAL, who have celebrated her nomination, confident that Jackson will uphold access to abortion. Clearly, these groups see her past work representing abortion advocates as evidence she will be an effective ally for their radical cause. As someone who has always been and will always be a fervent defender of the unborn, I find Jackson’s record to be extremely concerning.
I’m also very concerned about Jackson’s record on the bench. She has consistently imposed sentences for child pornography offenders below federal sentencing guidelines and the national average. There is no justification for leniency for those involved in the possession or manufacturing of child pornography.
Jackson’s record on criminal case sentencing overall is also significantly lower than the national average. At a time when violent crime is near record highs, the last thing we need is a justice on the Supreme Court who is soft on crime, in practice or philosophically.
During the hearings, we saw a disappointing trend of evasiveness from Jackson to thoughtful, commonsense questions from my fellow senators. When asked by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, “Can you provide a definition of the word ‘woman’?” Jackson replied, “No, I can’t.” When Sen. John Cornyn asked, “When you accuse someone of a crime, are you accusing them of being a criminal?” She replied, “It depends.” When Sen. John Kennedy asked, “When does life begin, in your opinion?” she replied, “Senator, um … I don’t know.”
These are just a few instances of her evasiveness. I am not so naive as to believe Jackson has no opinion on these legitimate questions. She owes all of us answers to these questions, among many others.
While I believe that Jackson is a fine and decent person as well as a skilled lawyer and judge, her record lends itself to an all but certain future of judicial activism. This, coupled with her evasiveness during the hearings, disqualifies her from serving on the high court. Biden appears intent on going down in history as our nation’s furthest-left president. Jackson’s nomination has only solidified this sad truth.
James Inhofe is Oklahoma’s senior U.S. senator.
