Durbin to preside over Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings
CHICAGO - Illinois Senator Dick Durbin chairs the committee that will debate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court.
If approved, she'd be the first Black woman ever to serve on America's highest court.
"There's an historic meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee that starts on Monday to consider the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson," Durbin said.
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Durbin said his goal is a bi-partisan vote to approve Judge Jackson, who is a former public defender.
Photo of Ketanji Brown Jackson (Credit: Getty Images)
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has blasted her for having represented offenders accused of sex crimes.
"She is a good person. She has the support of law enforcement. She is a mother of two daughters she's very proud of. And to suggest she's somehow weak on child pornography is an outrageous claim. I'm afraid it is the last gasp of the far right wing," Durbin said.
Durbin said that as Judge Jackson meets individual senators one-on-one she's been asked about her family background. While her parents went to racially segregated schools, she grew up in a part of Florida where schools were racially integrated.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, with President Joe Biden, speaks after she was nominated for Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2022. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
"She really doesn't dwell on that as much in terms of the discrimination she faced. You might remember many members of her family were in law enforcement: policeman in Baltimore, Maryland; chief of police in Florida. And so she has good law enforcement contacts. I'm sure she understands the struggle. But she does not dwell on it," Durbin said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled next Monday through Thursday for its hearings on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court.