Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday danced around defining the word “woman” during her confirmation hearings befo...
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday danced around defining the word “woman” during her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Can you provide a definition for the women ‘woman’?” Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee asked Jackson.
“Can I provide a definition?” she replied, dancing eyebrows showing her only reaction to the question.
“No. I can’t,” Jackson stated flatly.
“You can’t?” Blackburn said.
“Not in this context. I’m not a biologist,” the nominee said.
“The meaning of the word ‘woman’ is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a definition?” the senator asked.
“Senator, in my work as a judge, what I do is I address disputes. If there’s a dispute about a definition, people make arguments, and I look at the law, and I decide, so I’m not –,” Jackson said.
“The fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about,” Blackburn said.
She then explained why that might be relevant by bringing up the controversy over transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
“Just last week an entire generation of young girls watched as our taxpayer-funded institutions permitted a biological man to compete and beat a biological woman in the NCAA swimming championships,” the senator said. “What message do you think this sends to girls who aspire to compete and win in sports at the highest level?”
“Senator, I’m not sure what message that sends. If you’re asking me about the legal issues related to it — those are topics that are being hotly discussed, as you say, and could come to the court,” Jackson said.
Blackburn answered her own question.
“I think it tells our girls that their voices don’t matter,” she said. “I think it tells them that they’re second-class citizens. And parents want to have a Supreme Court justice who is committed to preserving parental autonomy and protecting our nation’s children.”
Earlier, the senator said Jackson “doesn’t seem to have a judicial philosophy.”
“She will not be clear about where she [supports] court packing. I have talked to a lot of women who were quite concerned about her record when it comes to how she’s dealt with crime, how she’s been soft on criminals, and soft on child pornographers and child abusers,” Blackburn said in comments to Fox News she posted on her website.
In her opening remarks Monday, the senator expressed concerns about Jackson’s perspective.
“You serve on the board of a school that teaches kindergarteners — 5-year-old children — that they can choose their gender and teaches them about so-called white privilege,” Blackburn said.
“This school has hosted an organization called ‘Woke Kindergarten’ and pushes an anti-racist education program for white families. Your public endorsement of this type of progressive indoctrination of our children causes one great concern when it comes to how you may rule on cases involving parental rights,” she said, according to a transcript on her website.
“Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into our legal system?” the senator said, noting that Jackson had once written that judges have personal hidden agendas.
“These are answers that the American people need to know,” she said.
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