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. 

Since the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, we've heard about the extensive support she has received from leftist "dark money" groups like Demand Justice. But where did this support originate? Earlier today, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell explained how a "politically charged" opinion she issued while serving as a District Court judge seems to have boosted her profile with the "dark money" Left:

“Before the 2020 election, one far-left dark-money group put Judge Jackson on their Supreme Court shortlist.

“Well, not at first. She was left off their first version. But shortly thereafter, the Judge published a fiery 118-page opinion in a politically-charged case that won attention and praise from liberal pundits.

Republicans have questions about Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson's involvement in providing representation for terrorism suspects being held at the Guantánamo Bay military prison. As The Washington Free Beacon reported in February, Judge Jackson was involved in the litigation while working as a federal public defender and after she moved to private practice:

Jackson has portrayed her work for the detainees as that of a disinterested professional fulfilling an assignment. But a Washington Free Beacon review of court filings dating back to 2005 indicates that Jackson was deeply committed to equal treatment for accused terrorists. Her advocacy was zealous and often resembled ideological cause lawyering, even in her capacity as a public defender. At times, she flirted with unsubstantiated left-wing theories that were debunked by government investigators. On other occasions, she accused Justice Department lawyers of egregious misconduct with little evidence.

The Left's latest attack on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has gone too far... again. This time, they are joining forces with the media to question the integrity of Justice Thomas because of his wife's involvement in political activities. Mark Paoletta writes for Newsweek:

The legacy corporate media has launched an unprecedented smear campaign against Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni, falsely claiming that Justice Thomas is violating ethics laws in light of his wife's political activities. Some have even advocated impeaching Justice Thomas for failing to recuse. They are, in effect, demanding a new standard for recusal that has no place in the law or in past practice.

During his campaign, President Biden assured the American people that he would do whatever he could to unite the country. In today's uncertain times, that promise is even more poignant. Biden missed a major opportunity to bring the country together when he made his pick to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. As Republican Senator Lindsey Graham explained, President Biden had the option to replace Justice Breyer with someone from his own shortlist who had the potential to receive true bipartisan support, District Court Judge Michelle Childs:

“Here’s the point: I was willing to get probably double-digit Republican support for somebody that would have been in the liberal camp from my state,” he added, referring to Childs. “So they made a political decision to reject bipartisanship and go another way.” 

The nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court has raised questions about her ability to objectively rule on an affirmative action case coming before the Court during the 2022-2021 term involving Harvard University where she serves as a member of the board of overseers:

After Justice Stephen Breyer retires from the bench later this year, the Supreme Court is poised to hear arguments this fall in one of the most significant cases before the court regarding race-based admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. If the Senate does confirm Jackson to succeed Breyer, her involvement on Harvard's board of overseers would raise questions regarding the Judicial Code of Conduct, which instructs judges to "avoid even the appearance of conflicts or bias," Turley wrote in an op-ed for the Hill on Tuesday.

At Tuesday's State of the Union, President Joe Biden will no doubt try to distract from his disastrous presidency by hailing the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court as a "mainstream" pick to the Court. But what really is her judicial philosophy? As Professor Jonathan Turley points out, Judge Brown Jackson has evaded prior questioning about her judicial philosophy:

Liberals want a justice who is willing to expand the meaning of the Constitution without constitutional amendments. President Biden stressed that his nominee must follow a "living constitution" approach, including a broad view of “unenumerated rights.” When asked if she supported such an approach, Childs answered "no." Jackson, in contrast, has been far more obscure and conflicted in her response.

On Friday, President Joe Biden officially announced the nomination of D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Brown Jackson has long been seen as the frontrunner to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Court.

Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks on his nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. https://t.co/kfVZTKYjTb

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 25, 2022

Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee hosted its first set of judicial confirmation hearings since Joe Biden took office. The first panel featured the nominations of Ketanji Brown Jackson to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit.

The most high-profile nomination considered during the first panel was that of Ketanji Brown Jackson. As RNLA previously noted, Judge Jackson has appeared on liberal dark money group Demand Justice's Supreme Court short list. The group is also supporting her nomination to the D.C. Circuit.

Earlier today, the White House released its first slate of federal judicial nominees since Joe Biden took office in January. As the Judicial Crisis Network's Carrie Severino told Fox News, this means it's "payback" time for liberal dark money groups.

President Biden has announced his first tranche of judicial nominees and as I explained on @FoxFriendsFirst this morning, it's payback time.

That is, payback time for the left-wing dark money groups that spent millions to elect him and Senate Democrats. pic.twitter.com/u8iy23Qw27

— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) March 30, 2021