On Monday, at the opening of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, Democrats claimed that asking questions about Jackson’s approach to crime or critical race theory — legitimate areas to ask questions about — wasn’t being “civil.”
The Republicans excoriated the Democrats for their hypocrisy for calling for “civility” after the vicious way they have treated so many nominees — especially nominees of color — over the years, accusing nominees of everything from religious bigotry to serial rape. Democrats do not have the right to be critical of anything they did after their actions.
The GOP said that Republicans had been fair in sticking with the issues while Democrats continued to play games.
Senator Chuck Grassley, R-IA, the top Republican member of the Committee busted Democrats for hiding Jackson documents during Jackson’s time as vice-chair. Sentencing Commission of Barack Obama, 2010-2014. According to him, the Obama White House had withheld 48,000 pages from the Presidential Records Act which the Committee was entitled to examine.
“That’s a lot of hiding,” Mr. Grassley said. “The limited number of useful records we received from the Obama White House show exactly why Sentencing Commission documents would have been important. There are a number of dark money groups on the left that argue federal judges should make policy decisions based on the judges’ own values.”
Grassley noted that Jackson was on the Commission because of the involvement of Demand Justice.
“The Demand Justice co-founder even interviewed Judge Jackson about a nomination to the Sentencing Commission. It would be helpful to know what the Demand Justice co-founder learned during that process and why they so strongly support Judge Jackson,” Mr. Grassley said.
“They’ve strongly supported the so-called ‘progressive’ prosecutors who are soft on violent crime in the face of a rising crime wave in cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles,” he added.
Given the questions that have been raised by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and other Republicans about whether Jackson is “soft on crime,” her decisions on the Sentencing Commission would be important information to evaluate. Grassley said that the Democrats want to use Jackson’s experience on the Commission as part of why she should be confirmed but they don’t want to turn over all the records related to her work there.
Sen. MarshaBlackburn raised some other points:
“She doesn’t seem to have a judicial philosophy. She won’t know where she stands. [supports] court packing. I have talked to a lot of women who were quite concerned about her record when it comes to how she’s dealt with crime, how she’s been soft on criminals, and soft on child pornographers and child abusers,” Blackburn said during an interview with Fox News over the weekend. “I’m very troubled about her record, whether it was when she was in private practice, the sentencing commission, or on the bench. She would’ve let 1,500 prisoners go during COVID. She let one murderer and one bank robber go. These are hardened criminals back on the streets.”
So what are they sitting on in the records and why wouldn’t they turn them over? They would likely raise more questions about criminals, as well. We’ve already seen the horrible effect that such policies have had on major cities with progressive prosecutors. What we don’t need is someone who has that same mindset with a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, so it’s vital to get as much information as possible on that question. Democrats do everything possible to prevent access.
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