Josh Hawley says he has concerns about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s record on Guantanamo Bay
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley met with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Wednesday but said the session did little to alleviate his concerns about her record on criminal justice issues.
Jackson, who was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Joe Biden in February, has been meeting one-on-one with U.S. Senators ahead of her March 21 confirmation hearing. She and Hawley talked for about an hour in his U.S. Capitol office.
Hawley said in a press conference he was concerned with Jackson’s representation of Guantanamo Bay detainees. Jackson was assigned to defend four detainees while she served as a federal public defender, but Hawley said he questioned her decision to continue defending them once she moved back into private practice.
“She volunteered to continue that representation in private practice, which I think is interesting,” Hawley said. “And frankly, from my point of view, a little concerning. This isn’t just the filing of amicus briefs.”
He also said he had issues with Jackson’s advocacy for reducing the minimum sentence required by law for when someone commits a crime.
If the Senate confirms Jackson, she would be the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. While Democrats have a majority in both the House and the Senate, the White House is working to win over potential Republican support for Jackson’s nomination.
It’s unlikely that Hawley will be one of them.
He voted against Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year. Hawley has said he would like to see those he considers constitutionalists and textualists on the U.S. Supreme Court, meaning they believe that the power of the U.S. government comes from the Constitution and that they would base their rulings on a strict interpretation of the text. That usually lends to a more conservative interpretation of the law, particularly in rulings about issues like abortion and religious freedom.
Hawley said they talked about how she approaches statutory and constitutional cases but that Jackson told him in the meeting that she was not a textualist.
Hawley has also previously said he will not support a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court unless they are on the record opposing Roe v. Wade. Jackson is not on the record opposing Roe v. Wade and several abortion rights groups applauded her nomination.
It would fit with Hawley’s larger approach toward Biden’s nominations. Since the president took office, Hawley has only voted to confirm one judicial nominee — Judge John P. Howard III to a position on the D.C. Court of Appeals. As of November, Hawley had opposed more of the Biden administration’s nominees than any other U.S. Senator.
Still, Hawley has repeatedly said he is approaching Jackson’s nomination with an open mind.
“I don’t have my mind made up,” Hawley said. “I’m not going to do that until after the hearings. I want to be sure that she’s given a full opportunity to present her record and discuss it.”
Jackson has served on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since 2021. Prior to her appointment, she sat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia after being nominated by former President Barack Obama in 2013. Both positions are generally seen as training grounds for future U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
Both Hawley and Jackson also served as clerks for U.S. Supreme Court Justices — a prestigious post for young lawyers. Hawley clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts from 2007 to 2008 and Jackson for Justice Stephen Breyer from 1999 to 2000.
Jackson would replace Breyer if she is confirmed, which would be unlikely to change the ideological make-up of the court.
When asked if that had any impact on his decision, Hawley said he did not believe Justices are representative of the administration that appoints them because he believes their views change over time.
“For every individual justice, you’ve got to ask: is this person qualified, does this person believe in the rule of law, is this someone whose views of the Constitution, I think, are in accordance with the dictates of Article Three,” Hawley said.
Article Three of the Constitution sets out the powers of the judicial branch.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 2:28 PM.