Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 4-1-22

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A Woman Named Ketanji Brown Jackson
Ketanji Onykia Brown Jackson is the first Black woman to be nominated to the U. S. Supreme Court, 157 years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. Eminently qualified and hav- ing 9 years’ experience as a judge (more than some other Supreme Court appointees), Jackson will become the sixth woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, if con- firmed.
Her service as a clerk to
Justice Stephen Breyer has provided Jackson “an insider’s view of the opera- tions of the court.” Jackson has served as a judge for the District of Columbia Circuit Court and was appointed by President Barak Obama to the District of Columbia District Court in 2010, ap- pointments for which she re- ceived bipartisan support. The District of Columbia is considered the second-most important court in the United States.
When confirmed, Jack- son will “have more experi- ence than four of the current judges and will be the first and only justice to have expe- rience as a public defender. Jackson’s experience as a public defender is said to give her a dual knowledge of the U. S. justice system and a perspective of how the U. S. justice system touches the lives of U. S. citizens.” In other words, Jackson will be able to understand the system from the viewpoint of the justice system and the side of the “users” of the sys- tem.
Judge Jackson was
JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
born in Washington, D. C. and reared in Miami, Florida by two schoolteachers. Dur- ing her high school years at Miami Palmetto High School, Jackson won the National Oratory Champi- onship for the National Catholic Forensic League, the second largest U. S. de- bate tournament in the coun- try.
While attending Harvard University, Jackson served her school community by leadership and participation. Jackson led a protest against a confederate flag that hung under the window of a Harvard student dormi- tory, and served as the editor of the Harvard Law Review. Jackson pursued her per- sonal interests in comedy and drama while at Harvard. Her senior thesis was enti- tled, “The Hand of Oppres- sion: Plea Bargaining Process and the Coercion of Criminal Defendants.”
Upon completion of Har- vard, Jackson worked for several law firms and served as the Assistant Public De- fender handling cases before the U. S. Court of Appeals for
the D. C. Circuit, “where she won uncommon victories against the U. S. government that shortened or erased lengthy prison terms. Jack- son also served in D. C. as an appellate specialist for law firm.
In 2014, Jackson was appointed to the U. S. Sen- tencing Commission “which retroactively amended the Sentencing Guidelines range for crack cocaine offenses and enacted the “drugs minus two” amendment which implemented a two- offense level reduction for drug crimes.”
As a federal judge, Jack- son ruled against the Trump administration on three occasions regarding approving the legislative sub- poena of Don McGahns to testify before Congress, em- ployee rights to collective bargaining, and the expan- sion of the definition for which noncitizens could be deported.
During her tenure as a judge, Jackson wrote 600 decisions of which only 12 (2 %) were reversed on appeal. Several high-profile deci- sions required meat packers to state the origin of the ani- mals (country), required the Department of Corrections to provide translation for a deaf mute inmate, and required the Department of Health and Human Services to re- store funding for a teen preg- nancy program that the department ended two years early with no reason to the grantees.
Grace, dignity, restraint, courage, strength, inspira- tion, integrity, majestic, poise, are a few of the glow- ing descriptive terms used to describe Jackson and her character.
Jackson is the wife of a surgeon and the mother of two children. There is no doubt that Ketanji Brown Jackson is a woman of stel- lar excellence and will make history as a Supreme Court Justice.
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Ketanji Brown Jackson And Intellectual Dolts
any metaphoric images crossed our minds as we
watched the confirmation hearings for Judge Ke- tanji Brown Jackson, hearings that reached an all-time low in all hearings for appointees to the United States Supreme Court. We thought of a queen sitting before a panel of dunces and an intellectual giant sparring with a host of intellectual dolts.
Jackson is a magna cum laude graduate (as in an ‘A’ student) from the number one ranked college and uni- versity and 3rd ranked law school in the country, Har- vard University.
Since it was not possible to attack Jackson’s experi- ence and qualifications, the dunces asked questions that had nothing to do with the role of a Supreme Court Jus- tice or Jackson’s knowledge of case law. The dunces asked questions such as – “What is a woman? What is the denomination of your faith? How often do you go to church? How faithful are you to your faith? What do you think about teaching Critical Race Theory to school children? (a subject taught only on the college level). Did you see how Brett Kavanaugh was treated during his “hearings?” “You are soft on crime,” “you give child mo- lesters sentences less than the guidelines called for or what prosecutors ask for,” accusations leveled at Jack- son.
We watched Jackson be disrespected, interrupted, and spoken to nastily by people who are supposed to be educated, but mirrored racism that permeates our soci- ety.
Moreover, we heard Senators ask questions never asked of former appointees. Indeed, the hearings were accurately described by Senator Pat Leahy, (D) Ver- mont, who “compared the treatment Jackson faced to the era of Jim Crow.
However, Jackson is not thought to be soft on crime by the Fraternal Order of Police (largest law enforce- ment organization in the United States), the Interna- tional Association of Chiefs of Police with over 31,000 members in 156 countries, the National Order of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) and a group of bipartisan Attorney Generals all of whom endorsed her.
By the way, a dolt is a stupid person.
M
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