'You Think Our Criminal Justice System Is Institutionally Racist, Do You?': Kennedy Presses Nominee

6 months ago

At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned Meredith A. Vacca, nominee to be United States District Judge for the Western District of New York, about her former membership in the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and her past statements.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00 Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations to each of you. Judge

00:08 Seperito. Yes. You and Senator Casey went to high school together? Yes, we did,

00:16 Senator. Did you ever see Senator Casey try to sneak a beer past Jesus? I never

00:25 saw that. Oh, okay. Wise answer. Judge Vaca, you are a member of an organization

00:34 called the National Association Pacific American Bar Association, are you not? I

00:41 was, Senator. My membership lapsed at the beginning of this year, but I was a

00:46 member for two years. Well, my record shows you were a member for 22 years.

00:53 Senator, that was a mistake and I actually sent a letter after I saw that

00:58 mistake to the committee, so it was two years. Okay. And the, I'll call it the NAPABA,

01:09 is that the correct acronym? I think NAPABA. NAPABA? Yes. Okay, thank you. And NAPABA

01:15 is funded by Mr. George Soros, is it not? Senator, I'm not familiar with the

01:25 funding. I was a member and I paid the dues, but I had no contact with any of

01:32 the, any of the members there, and so that's why I let my membership lapse.

01:36 Well, it's, it's website says that it's supported by, it's funded by the Open

01:44 Society Foundations, which are founded by Mr. George Soros. Now, NAPABA, in, in

01:55 March of 2023, while you were still a member, NAPABA issued a statement and it

02:05 said that it supports transgender, allowing transgender and intersex girls

02:15 and women to participate in all sports. Is that correct? Senator, I'm not familiar

02:22 with NAPABA's statement, so I'll take your word for it. You didn't know anything

02:26 about that? No, Senator, I, I really, I joined the organization because I thought

02:33 it would give me a community of other Asian American attorneys and judges, but

02:38 I didn't have any interaction with anyone in the group. I didn't attend any

02:42 meetings or vote, and so I'm not aware of that statement or any of other

02:49 statements made by NAPABA. So this is all an epiphany to you, is that right? Yes,

02:54 Senator. I, okay. NAPABA also issued a statement that said the following. It

03:03 supports state and local governmental entities that choose not to honor ICE

03:13 detainer requests and that do also decline to, to detain individuals solely

03:20 on the basis of an ICE detainer request. So NAPABA opposes supporting ICE, is

03:29 that correct? From what you just read, Senator, I guess I, I haven't read that

03:37 statement, but I can, I can tell you, Senator, that I don't ascribe to any of

03:42 those statements that you just, that you just read to me. Okay. Judge, in, in

03:52 October of 2020, you ran for judge, is that right? Yes. Okay. And on a, on a

04:03 talk radio interview, here's what you said. I'm going to quote. Okay. Okay. We

04:09 also need to recognize the effects of racism on our criminal justice system.

04:15 Institutional racism impacts all of society. I think that is amplified in our

04:24 criminal justice system. We see that in the disproportionate number of black men

04:31 and women being incarcerated and convicted. End quote. Did I read that

04:37 correctly? Senator, I haven't listened to that particular show, but I'll take your

04:43 word for it. Yeah. Okay.

04:46 What do you think our criminal justice system is, is institutionally racist, do

04:53 you? Senator, I don't believe that our, our court system by its nature is racist.

05:00 When I... Why did you say this then? Well, what I meant by that was that I believe

05:06 there are racial disparities in our communities. Yeah, but that's not... We both

05:11 know there's racism in, in, in, in every society, unfortunately, but that's not

05:17 what you said. You said the criminal justice system is not just racist, it's

05:23 institutionally racist. And then you said that, I'm going to quote your words, not

05:29 mine, the disproportionate number of black men and women incarcerated and

05:36 convicted are because of race. Did you say that? Senator, what I, what I was

05:43 talking about was the racial disparities in... And you said it solely has to do with

05:50 the color of a person's skin. You really believe that, Judge? Well, no, Senator, I

05:55 don't believe that at all. Why did you say it? You said it, you were running for

05:59 judge, you said it in front of God and country all my life. What I, what I said,

06:04 Senator, was that I recognize that racial disparities in our community can

06:11 influence rates of incarceration. That's not what you said. You're a political activist,

06:16 aren't you, Judge? No, not at all, Senator. Okay, I'm over. Thanks, Mr. Chairman, for your

06:22 indulgence. Senator Welch? Thank you very much.

06:32 A couple of things.

06:34 Judge Saperito.

'You Think Our Criminal Justice System Is Institutionally Racist, Do You?': Kennedy Presses Nominee

Category

Transcript

Recommended