Blumenthal Speaks in Support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Ahead of Judiciary Committee Vote on Supreme Court Nominee

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke in support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ahead of the Committee’s vote on Judge Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. After consideration by the Judiciary Committee, Judge Jackson’s nomination will then be sent to the full Senate. 

Key quotes from Blumenthal’s remarks are below:

“She has wowed America. Any of us going home over these past weekends have seen a standing ovation for Judge Jackson from the American people.” 

“It is a joyous and exciting moment for all of America. Her nomination will make the Supreme Court look more like America and hopefully think more like America.” 

“Representation matters. It matters for the legitimacy and credibility of our whole judicial system. Judges are the voice and face of justice in America. Their credibility matters. They have no armies. They have no police forces. They have no power of the purse. The United States Supreme Court depends on its credibility and the trust of the American people that it will think like they do.” 

“This nominee has an emotional intelligence in addition to legal intellect. She is a bridge builder. She aims at consensus.”

“She is someone who knows what it means to respect and enforce the law. And she has a respect for the law, not just words on the page as my colleague Senator Klobuchar said so well, she has respect for the impact of the words of judges in opinions they write and what they speak in the courtroom – the effect and impact on everyday Americans.”

“All of America will think about the law and about the court in new ways. And little girls, women, all of America will hopefully have more respect and trust for the courts.” 

“She is, as she said, standing on the shoulders of others who couldn't be here today – Constance Baker Motley, John Lewis, her parents, and thousands of others who fought, and some died, for changes in the laws so that we would think about the law in new ways and she would become our first Black woman on the United States Supreme Court.” 

“I will proudly vote for her.”

Blumenthal’s full remarks are available here and copied below:

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thanks Mr. Chairman. I want to join in thanking you and the ranking member for conducting these hearings in a really judicious way. To adopt my colleague’s baseball analogy, we’ve seen not only wild pitches but more than a few brushbacks and even some beanballs. And I think you have conducted these hearings in a way that encourages us to look at the truth and look at our role in history.

We've seen a lot of meritless demagoguery, concocted outrage, and, in fact, even this morning nothing really new and nothing true in many of the attacks on Judge Jackson.

The fact of the matter is that the Republicans have repeatedly supported Trump appointed nominees that had similar sentencing records as Judge Jackson. There are six of them in the record, but they have chosen to raise this hypocritical line of attack on the first Black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court. When these kinds of lies become so blatant that even the right-wing media echo chamber can't support them with a straight face, it really is saying something.

The latest Republican attacks in recent days continue that trend. Cherry picking data and slanting analysis to try to disingenuously smear a distinguished jurist.

We all recognize that child sexual abuse material is abhorrent. That's the reason why I have led bipartisan legislation with members of this committee to stop it and hold accountable anyone who would enable it, and we have voted unanimously to bring that legislation to the floor.

The American people really are having nothing of these attacks. She has wowed America. Any of us going home over these past weekends have seen a standing ovation for Judge Jackson from the American people. And the reason is that her nomination will be historic. We are, in fact, making history. It is a joyous and exciting moment for all of America. Her nomination will make the Supreme Court look more like America and hopefully think more like America. It is in effect a giant leap into the present because the present of America looks like Judge Jackson, and a more diverse judiciary at every level that President Biden has sought to achieve, and we have supported in achieving on this committee.

Representation matters. It matters for the legitimacy and credibility of our whole judicial system. Judges are the voice and face of justice in America. Their credibility matters. They have no armies. They have no police forces. They have no power of the purse. The United States Supreme Court depends on its credibility and the trust of the American people that it will think like they do. It is unelected, appointed for life, one of the most undemocratic kinds of institutions you could possibly imagine.

And so as excited and proud I am on this day, I also am sad that we are seeing this partisan divide on this committee and in this Congress on this extraordinarily well-qualified nominee.

My colleague, Senator Cornyn, talked about legitimizing consent. Legitimizing consent means that the American people consent and legitimize the Supreme Court. If we treat the Supreme Court like another political branch, it will become one. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and right now we are fulfilling it. The United States Congress and most especially my Republican colleagues are fulfilling that prophecy by engaging in a party line vote against a nominee that is superbly qualified by character and intellect, and will make history as the first Black woman to be confirmed.

Voting along strict party lines means it is more likely that the Supreme Court will vote that way, too. Regardless of how the court votes go, the public will perceive the court as more political, more polarized, and less legitimate.

The court has many self-inflicted wounds. The failure to adopt a code of ethics is one of them, and I have advocated that code of ethics, and ask the nominee about and she said she would talk to our colleagues. But the partisan combat we are seeing today is a wound that the United States Congress inflicts on the court.

Now, this nominee has an emotional intelligence in addition to legal intellect. She is a bridge builder. She aims at consensus. My colleagues question whether she had a judicial philosophy. Well, normally the way you determine judicial philosophy is to look at decisions and opinion, not asking the judge to describe it.

She has ruled for and against the Trump Administration, for and against labor and collective bargaining, for and against qualified immunity, for and against class certification, because her methodology is to follow the facts and the law.

And as she said in Mobarez v. Kerry where she declined to evaluate the plaintiffs’ claim because doing so would have required, “Making and imposing policy judgments of her own about the wisdom and/or reasonableness of decisions.” She knows her lane. That's her methodology, to stay within the judicial lane.

Finally, as to law enforcement, I found overwhelmingly persuasive her description of what it was like for her to grow up with members of her family involved in law enforcement. Her uncle who is a chief of police, her brother a cop on patrol. “I’d make three observations in response to those critiques,” meaning the critique of her law enforcement background. She said, “The first is that as someone who has had family members on patrol and in the line of fire, I care deeply about public safety. I know what it's like to have loved ones who go off to protect and to serve, and the fear of not knowing whether or not they are going to come home again because of crimes in the community. As you said, my brother patrolled the streets of Baltimore and I'd two uncles who were career law enforcement.”

She is someone who knows what it means to respect and enforce the law. And she has a respect for the law, not just words on the page as my colleague Senator Klobuchar said so well, she has respect for the impact of the words of judges in opinions they write and what they speak in the courtroom – the effect and impact on everyday Americans, just as Justice Breyer has done throughout his career. These abstract legalisms, the abstruse pronouncements from the bench, they affect every day Americans. She knows it. And that's how she will make the Supreme Court think more like America.

We are making history here, not only for ourselves but for generations to come. “One of the things that having diverse members of the court does is it provides for the opportunity for role models. Since I was nominated to this position I've received so many notes and letters and photos from little girls around the country who tell me they are so excited for this opportunity, and that they have thought about the law in new ways.” All of America will think about the law and about the court in new ways. And little girls, women, all of America will hopefully have more respect and trust for the courts.

She is, as she said, standing on the shoulders of others who couldn't be here today – Constance Baker Motley, John Lewis, her parents, and thousands of others who fought, and some died, for changes in the laws so that we would think about the law in new ways and she would become our first Black woman on the United States Supreme Court.

I will proudly vote for her. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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