Who is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?

She could make history as the first Black woman to serve on the country's most powerful court.  Who is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson?

Transcript

00:00I hope to inspire people to try to follow this path because I love this country,

00:08because I love the law, because I think it is important that we all invest in our future.

00:30It was my father who started me on this path. Some of my earliest memories

00:45are of him sitting at the kitchen table reading his law books.

00:53And it was after a debate tournament that took place at Harvard when she was in high school

00:58that she believed she could one day be a student there. There were those who

01:02told her she shouldn't set her sights too high, but she refused to accept limits.

01:18I was walking through the yard in the evening and a black woman I did not know

01:25was passing me and she leaned over as we crossed and said,

01:32persevere.

01:34Criminal defense lawyers perform a service and our system is exemplary throughout the world

02:02precisely because we ensure that people who are accused of crimes are treated fairly.

02:09As a judge who has to decide how to handle these cases,

02:14I know it's important to have arguments from both sides, to have competent counsel.

02:24Federal public defenders don't get to pick their clients. They have to represent

02:31whoever comes in and it's a service. I represented as an appellate defender some of those detainees.

02:42You may have read that I have one uncle who got caught up in the drug trade

02:48and received a life sentence. That is true. But law enforcement also runs in my family.

02:55In addition to my brother, I had two uncles who served decades as police officers.

03:01So

03:25my vote today does not resemble any caricature of a policymaker intent on

03:31freeing violent felons without authorization and against congressional will. Rather,

03:37it is well-supported and fully consistent with the Sentencing Reform Act,

03:42the Fair Sentencing Act, prior experience and common sense.

04:01And I've been serving in the District of Columbia, both as a trial judge and as an appellate judge,

04:09and we see some of the most politically contentious issues. My record demonstrates my impartiality.

04:21Today will be the fourth time that I've had the honor of appearing before this committee.

04:36Well, what I found, Sean, is a pattern here of treating sex offenders leniently.

04:40As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases,

04:47I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth.

04:52You imposed a sentence that matched the recommendation by either the prosecution

04:59or the probation office in most of the cases where you did that sentencing. Is that right?

05:08Do you have that in mind?

05:09Yes, Senators.

05:10Yes, Senators.

05:16It views every conflict as a racial conflict.

05:23Do you think that's an accurate way of viewing society in the world we live in?

05:26Senator, I don't think so, but I've never studied critical race theory,

05:32and I've never used it. It doesn't come up in the work that I do as a judge.

05:46You're a person that is so much more than your race and gender. You're a Christian. You're a

05:51mom. You're an intellect. You love books. But for me, I'm sorry. It's hard for me not to look

05:58at you and not see my mom. You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.