RNLA sent the following letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley regarding the record of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson:
Dear Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley,
The Republican National Lawyers Association (“RNLA”) urges you to seek answers from Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the following questions during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Receiving answers to these questions from Judge Jackson is especially important due to the compressed timeline of this nomination, which does not allow for sufficient factfinding in these matters.
1. Role on the Harvard Board of Overseers
What was Judge Jackson’s role on the Harvard Board of Overseers regarding admission standards for Asian students and did she received confidential information regarding the lawsuit currently pending before the Supreme Court? While she may refuse to do so at the hearing, she must affirmatively pledge to recuse herself from the upcoming Supreme Court case at her hearing if she has been involved in any internal discussions of the case or strategy regarding it, she was involved in creating or approving the admission standards at issue in the case, or she has received confidential information regarding the case or its background.
2. Judicial Philosophy
What is Judge Jackson’s judicial philosophy? During her confirmation to the United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, she failed to articulate a coherent judicial philosophy in response to written and verbal questioning.
3. Service on the U.S. Sentencing Commission
During Judge Jackson’s service on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, what positions, if any, did she take on sentencing for serious crimes such as child sex offenses? We understand that the release of some of Judge Jackson’s records may be beyond her control, but the shortened confirmation timeline places a higher burden on her to discuss these concerns during her confirmation hearings.
We look forward to Judge Jackson’s responses to these questions and to a respectful hearing to address these and other issues her nomination raises.
Sincerely,
David K. Bowsher
President
Harmeet Dhillon
Chair
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