WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee will face sharp questions from Republican lawmakers this coming week about the work she did as a public defender representing four Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Some Republicans say Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has a record of “defending terrorists” and they plan to raise questions about it at Senate hearings on her nomination that begin Monday. The criticism comes even as prominent Republicans have previously defended those who represented Guantanamo detainees, saying ensuring everyone access to a lawyer is a fundamental part of the American legal system.
Jackson was nominated to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, and her selection fulfills a campaign promise by President Joe Biden to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. Democrats have the votes to confirm her even without GOP support. But three Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is holding the hearings, are considering running for president in 2024 and are likely to use Jackson’s Guantanamo Bay work, among other issues, to try to paint her as soft on crime and terrorism.
