Politics Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson faces tied committee vote, but still moves closer to her historic confirmation

23:50 04 april 2022

23:50 04 april 2022 Source: businessinsider.com

Who is Ginni Thomas? What to know about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife

Ginni Thomas has long been active in conservative circles. But her ties to Jan. 6 have raised questions about her husband's role on the Supreme Court.Reports on Thursday surfaced that his wife, Virginia Thomas, repeatedly pressured a top White House official in President Donald Trump's administration to overturn the 2020 election, according to text messages reviewed by numerous news organizations. Earlier this month, she also confirmed having attended Trump's rally prior to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-11 on Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination.
The move forces Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to invoke special procedures to advance Jackson's nomination.
The so-called discharge vote is expected to happen on Monday afternoon.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday moved one step closer to becoming the first ever Black woman on the Supreme Court, despite facing a tied vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The panel split 11-11 on Jackson's nomination, with all Democrats in support and all Republicans against. The move presents a deadlock, and forces Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to invoke special procedures to advance Jackson's nomination.

A dramatic shift is happening: Biden is tapping more and more Black prosecutors for US attorney posts

While Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination has drawn the spotlight, Biden has also worked to install a diverse class of U.S. attorneys.Her first-grade teacher relayed the tragic news that her 5-year-old cousin had been run down by a drunk driver. The skid marks left in the street are seared into her memory still. At 9, her father was murdered, a devastating consequence she attributes to an "unhealthy" lifestyle.

Later Monday afternoon, the top Democrat will file what's called a "motion to discharge" the committee from Jackson's nomination. That discharge vote only requires a simple majority, and given the Senate's 50-50 split with Democrats in control, they will be able to push Jackson's nomination forward. After that vote, Jackson remains on track for a final confirmation vote before the full Senate, which will likely take place later this week.

Still, the tied vote represents how partisan the Supreme Court confirmation process has become in recent years. The committee was widely anticipated to deadlock after several Republicans on the panel announced their opposition to Jackson. Those GOP members, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Josh Hawley of Missouri, aggressively questioned Jackson during her confirmation hearings last month, appearing likely to vote against her.

Marsha Blackburn asked Ketanji Brown Jackson to define 'woman.' Science says there's no simple answer.

When Marsha Blackburn asked Ketanji Brown Jackson to define "woman," she wanted a simple answer. Scientists and gender scholars say it doesn't exist.Jackson, appearing confused, responded, "I’m not a biologist.

1/5 SLIDES © Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images; S. Todd Rogers/AP; Charles Dharapak/AP
Inside the personal finances of Joe Biden's possible Supreme Court nominees
President Joe Biden has pledged to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Insider obtained the most recent financial records for four potential Supreme Court nominees.

Some of these potential nominees have held individual stocks or investment properties.

Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement announcement has prompted a speculative frenzy over who President Joe Biden will nominate to the Supreme Court. Biden has previously vowed to appoint a Black woman as his Supreme Court justice. His short list initially included at least a dozen people, and Biden since said he's done a "deep dive" on "abut four people."
Biden is expected to make a final decision by the end of February to replace Breyer and has already begun to reach out to potential candidates, according to CNN.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins says she'll vote to confirm Biden's Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

Collins is the first Republican to support Jackson, ensuring Biden's Supreme Court nominee will get a bipartisan confirmation vote."I have decided to support the confirmation of Judge Jackson to be a member of the Supreme Court," Collins told The New York Times after meeting with Jackson a second time on Tuesday. Collins' move ensures that Jackson will get bipartisan support to serve on the Supreme Court.

Insider obtained the most recently available financial disclosure forms for four potential candidates: US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, US District Judge J. Michelle Childs of South Carolina, and US District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner of Georgia.
The financial disclosures, obtained through the Free Law Project, provide a revealing, if incomplete, picture of their personal finances. The documents in part list salary information, outside income, past positions, travel reimbursements and perks, and details about their various financial investments, including stocks and rental properties.
Some of these investments could conceivably pose conflicts of interest at a time when the public's opinion of the Supreme Court is plummeting, according to recent polls.
The number of Americans who have favorable views of the Supreme Court declined to 54% in January 2022 from 70% in August 2020, according to a new survey by Pew Research Center. A recent Gallup poll painted an even bleaker picture for the high court.

All Senate Democrats and 3 Republicans advance Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination, teeing up her final Supreme Court confirmation vote

Earlier on Monday, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee tied 11-11 on Jackson's nomination.The committee earlier Monday voted 11-11 on Jackson's nomination, with all Democrats on the panel voting in favor and all Republicans voting against. The tie forced Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to hold another vote to push Jackson's nomination forward, filing what's called a motion to "discharge" the committee.

"The public is paying attention to the Supreme Court in a way that I don't think it has in the past because it has both the perception and the reality of being increasingly partisan," said Renee Knake Jefferson, a University of Houston law professor.
Jefferson told Insider that it's unclear what the recusal process would look like for any Supreme Court nominee who may have certain investments that could pose an ethical conflict. But it will be something that Biden will carefully have to monitor, Jefferson said.
Ethical conflicts of federal judges has been at the center of controversy since the Wall Street Journal published a report that found that more than 130 federal judges broke the law by overseeing cases in which they or their family members had a financial interest.
This Supreme Court nomination process also comes on the heels of Insider's "Conflicted Congress" project that found that dozens of lawmakers — including those in the US Senate who will vote on a Supreme Court nomination — had potential financial conflicts or violated the law by failing to properly disclose their own stock transactions. Congress is actively debating whether to strengthen these rules — including whether to require Supreme Court justices or all federal judges to disclose more information about their personal finances.

Jackson likely confirmed in a hurry. Getting on the Supreme Court? That'll take time.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's wait to take a Supreme Court seat is longer than previous nominees faced. Some were sworn in almost immediately.Assuming President Joe Biden's nominee to the nation's highest court is confirmed by the Senate this week, Jackson will have to sit tight for nearly three months for her spot on the bench to open up – an unusually long delay that may have implications for public perceptions of the court, her ascension to it and a number of high-profile cases.

Below are details about four leading Supreme Court nominee candidates' personal finances. This article will be updated as financial disclosures become available for other potential Supreme Court nominees.
Read the original article on Business Insider
2/5 SLIDES © Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images

US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Jackson, 51, is seen as a top contender to be the next Supreme Court nominee. Jackson joined the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuits in 2021. She served as a judge on the US District Court for the District of Columbia from 2013 to 2021.
Jackson, a former Breyer clerk, attended Harvard University for her undergraduate studies and also graduated from Harvard Law School.
In 2019, Jackson also sat on the Board of Overseers at Harvard University, which helps the president and senior officers fulfill their responsibilities in managing and leading the university. She also was a board member of Georgetown Day School, according to a 2019 financial disclosure.
She reported up to $130,000 in Charles Schwab investment accounts, that included one that tracks the S&P 500" and another described as "small cap index fund." She also held Vanguard index funds that totaled up to $30,000.
Jackson did not report holding any individual stocks in her financial disclosure forms covering 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2012.
In 2011 and 2012, Jackson received $3,000 each year for teaching at the George Washington University law school.

Senate confirms Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court in historic vote

The Senate on Thursday confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court in a bipartisan vote. Just before the 53-47 bipartisan vote, during the rare occasion when senators announce their votes standing at their desks, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called it "an even greater moment for America as we rise to a more perfect union.

Jackson's office declined Insider's request to comment on her financial disclosures and whether she currently owns individual stocks. Insider has asked federal courts to provide financial disclosure for Jackson and other potential Supreme Court nominees covering 2020 but has not yet received them.
3/5 SLIDES © AP Photo/S. Todd Rogers, Pool, File

California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger

Kruger, 45, is a native to southern California. She attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. In 2015, Kruger joined the California State Supreme Court. Before that, she worked in the Justice Department under the George W. Bush and Obama administration.
Kruger argued nearly a dozen cases before the Supreme Court when she worked at the Department of Justice.
In 2020, she reported receiving $1,437 from Harvard Law School and $449 from the University of Southern California for making a speech or participating in a panel, according to a "statement of economic interests" filed with the California Fair Political Practices Commission that covered her financial activity during 2020.
Kruger did not report owning any individual stocks in her most recent financial disclosure form.
4/5 SLIDES © Charles Dharapak/AP

US District Judge J. Michelle Childs of South Carolina.

Childs, 55, is reportedly considered a potential Supreme Court Nominee. In 2009, former President Barack Obama appointed Childs to serve on the South Carolina federal bench. In 2000, she served as a gubernatorial appointee on South Carolina's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
She attended the University of South Carolina Law School.
Childs has won the support of Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Democrat of South Carolina, who has been very vocal about Biden nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
In 2018, Childs owned three rental properties that were each worth up to $250,000. Two properties were located in Columbia, South Carolina, and one was located in Fayetteville, Georgia, according to her 2018 federal financial disclosure form.

Jackson's speech highlights US race struggles, progress

“In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.” With those words, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson acknowledged both the struggles and progress of Black Americans in her lifetime. Her words, delivered from the South Lawn of the White House on Friday, one day after her historic Senate confirmation, were a tribute to generations of Black Americans who she said paved the way for her elevation to the nation’s highest court.

That same year, she reported investing in diversified funds such as the American Funds Fundamental Investors® Class F-2 that was valued up to $50,000 and Blackstone Alternative Multi-Strategy Fund that was also valued up to $50,000.
She also reported under her investment that she owned a stake in "I Properties" that was reported to be worth up to $5 million, according to her 2018 financial disclosure statement.
In 2016 and 2017, Childs also said she was investing in an entity called "Partnership Building," which was worth up to $5 million.
Childs did not report this "Partnership Buildings" investment in her 2018 financial disclosure. The disclosure did not indicate how much money she has invested into this entity or what this entity was.
Childs did not respond to Insider's request to comment on her investments.
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US District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner of Georgia

Gardner, 47, a federal district court judge in Georgia, is also among the many potential Supreme Court nominees. In 2014, she was appointed to the federal bench by Obama.
Before her appointment, Gardner worked as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Gardner graduated from Brown University before obtaining her law degree from Yale Law School.
Gardner traded or held stocks in Adobe, Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, Amazon, Apple, Boeing, and Home Depot that are each worth up to $15,000 or less, according to her 2019 financial disclosure. That same year, she sold her stocks in pharmaceutical giant Pfizer that were worth up to $15,000.
The previous year, Gardner first bought her stocks in Apple, Adobe, according to her 2018 financial disclosure. In 2018, she sold her stocks in Johnson & Johnson worth up to $15,000.
It is unclear when Gardner, who is the sister of Democratic Party luminary and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, still holds these stocks. She did not respond to Insider requests for comment.
5/5 SLIDES © Office of Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner

Yet GOP opposition will not tank Jackson's nomination. The 51-year-old judge is expected to be confirmed with full Democratic support and the backing of at least one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who revealed last week that she plans to vote for Jackson. Senate Democrats and the White House have been vying to peel off some GOP votes for a bipartisan confirmation.

Last year, Collins supported Jackson's confirmation to her current seat on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, as did two other Republicans: Graham and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

This time around, Graham opposed Jackson's nomination because of what he described as her record of "judicial activism" and a "lack of a steady judicial philosophy." Murkowski has not yet announced how she will vote, but Monday's discharge vote could preview how she intends to.

Most Republicans have already said they will vote against Jackson. Though another possible swing vote for Jackson is Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who has not yet announced which way he will go.

Monday's committee vote comes after Jackson met individually with senators for weeks and faced roughly 22 hours of questioning during her confirmation hearings, which at times grew contentious. Republicans grilled Jackson on her sentencing record and her judicial philosophy, while Democrats touted her extensive legal experience, her endorsements from both sides of the political aisle, and her history-making moment as the first Black woman nominated for the nation's highest court.

Jackson expressed gratitude for the nomination and pledged that if confirmed, she will "support and defend the Constitution and this grand experiment of American democracy that has endured over these past 246 years."

"I decide cases from a neutral posture. I evaluate the facts. And I interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me without fear or favor consistent with my judicial oath," Jackson said in her opening statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Jackson's speech highlights US race struggles, progress .
“In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.” With those words, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson acknowledged both the struggles and progress of Black Americans in her lifetime. Her words, delivered from the South Lawn of the White House on Friday, one day after her historic Senate confirmation, were a tribute to generations of Black Americans who she said paved the way for her elevation to the nation’s highest court.