WASHINGTON D.C., DC — On Thursday, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court and make history. She will be the first Black woman to serve on the country's highest court.
Both Senator Marsha Blackburn and Senator Bill Hagerty opposed the confirmation. Despite voting along the party line, they had two different perspectives on Judge Jackson.
Hagerty said she was committed to serving the U.S. and was deeply intelligent. However, he said he disagreed with her judicial philosophy and said that the way she interpreted the U.S. Constitution did not align with what he thinks the Constitution demands.
He also said he believes Tennesseans wanted more from a Supreme Court justice.
During the four days of Senate hearings last month, Jackson spoke of her parents’ struggles through racial segregation and said her “path was clearer” than theirs as a Black American after the enactment of civil rights laws. She attended Harvard University, served as a public defender, worked at a private law firm and was appointed as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Blackburn took a harsher stance on social media about the confirmation. She insinuated that Judge Jackson would not protect children or defend the Constitution.
“I can only wonder what’s your hidden agenda,” Blackburn previously said during the hearings, pointing to one of the judge's earlier writings. “Is it to let violent criminals, cop killers and child predators back to the streets? ... Is it your personal hidden agenda to incorporate critical race theory into our legal system?”
She also many other cynical questions along with other members of the Republican party, and the line of questioning was traumatizing for many Black women, according to many who spoke during the hearings.
Judge Jackson, a 51-year-old appeals court judge with 9 years of experience on the federal bench, was confirmed 53-47 on Thursday. She will take her seat when Justice Stephen Breyer retires this summer.