Ken Garten Legal perspectives
At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I will admit that I was surprised when President Biden announced in advance that his first Supreme Court appointment was going to be a black woman.
I can’t recall a time when racial qualification was so unsubtly announced in advance in such a matter.
But I agree that it is very important to have diversity in our judiciary, just like in our police departments, school systems and neighborhoods that reflect and serve our eclectic society.
Enter the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson, the nominee, who currently serves as a judge on the prestigious federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
I guess if you’re going to appoint someone to the Supreme Court, you might as well swing for the fences and bring forth a candidate whose achievements, qualifications and experience make you go WOW.
That is Judge Jackson, starting with top scholastic honors at Harvard undergrad, Harvard Law School and being an editor on the Harvard Law Review.
From there, a series of federal clerkships, culminating with clerking for the retiring Supreme Court justice she now stands nominated to replace, yhe Honorable Stephen Breyer.
After her clerkships, Judge Jackson worked for a couple of years in private practice, and was later appointed to the United States Sentencing Commission, a hugely important body in setting federal sentencing policies and guidelines.
She went on to become a federal appellate public defender and was subsequently elevated to the federal bench, first as a judge on the United States District Court in D.C. and now a United States Court of Appeals judge.
Not a bad resume.
Some political rocks have been lobbed at her by relating vague criticism of some unspecified sentencing decisions. This comes compliments of our Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who always seems to have something to say.
It’s certainly easy pickins to fling against someone who has been committed to work in the criminal justice system for much of their career, defending the accused and adjudicating their cases.
And while it’s easy to spout some vague accusation if it gets you a microphone or a headline, unlike Senator Hawley, I tend to believe that people like Judge Jackson are motivated by the integrity and fairness of the adversarial criminal justice system, and not some liberal political agenda to throw open the prison doors, as some may imply.
So yes, I’m a fan of this nomination, and I think our president did a good job of making sure his nominee brought a track record of achievement and integrity that are beyond reproach.
She’ll be tough to oppose by those who may seek to obstruct her confirmation.
My only hesitation: another Ivy League megabrain? Well, maybe that’s best in this case. But there’s a part of me that thinks perhaps our Supreme Court could use a regular judge or lawyer from a state school in the middle of nowhere to bring some real world flavor to the court.
I hope we get to find out someday. But for now, I’m quite impressed with who we have.
Phil Hanson is president and CEO of the Truman Heartland Community Foundation, based in Independence.
Ken Garten is a Blue Springs attorney. Email him at krgarten@yahoo.com.
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