On Senator Romney’s Support for Judge Jackson
We thank Senator Romney for setting aside the extreme partisanship of his fellow Republicans and instead evaluating Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson based on her supernal qualifications. It is particularly apt that Senator Romney announced his support for this historic nominee on the day we remember the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We agree with Senator Romney that Judge Jackson “more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity” we should expect of Supreme Court Justices. We note the parallels with the assessment by Judge Thomas Griffith — former General Counsel of Brigham Young University and one of the two persons who introduced Judge Jackson to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
We remain concerned about the burdens and expectations placed on the Court as it currently exists. We also note that Senate Judiciary Republicans — including Senator Lee — insisted that Judge Jackson’s nomination advance through a discharge petition, unprecedented in the past 170 years of Supreme Court nominations. Senator Graham’s comments today remind us that Senate Republicans deliberately refused to consider President Obama’s nomination of now-Attorney General Merrick Garland to the Court. These petty remarks were just another sad moment for the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose excuses for not supporting Judge Jackson’s confirmaton have been described by a major editorial board as “absurd.”
At the end of the day, however, history moves forward as Judge Jackson is one step closer to becoming Justice Jackson, the first Black woman and first public defender on the Supreme Court of the United States. We are glad to see Senator Romney doing his duty and supporting the Constitutional principles that undergird our democracy.
