SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association has come out in support of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson after she faced contentious questioning and criticisms by Republican lawmakers during the confirmation hearings.
“Given how well the judge acquitted herself during the hearings that she went through, I think she would be an outstanding addition to the Supreme Court,” said Michael Gross, president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA).
Judge Jackson if confirmed would become the first Supreme Court justice to possess experience serving as a federal public defender. She’d also be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
The last Supreme Court justice to have experience representing the accused was Justice Thurgood Marshall between 1967-1991.
“It will be a nice breath of fresh air to have someone on there who hopefully will mirror some of the wonderful thoughts, knowledge and insight that Thurgood Marshall had when he was on the bench more way back 30 years ago,” Gross said.
The initial weeks of Jackson’s confirmation process involved hours-long squabbles among lawmakers over her record of defending accused individuals for a host of crimes.
“And that’s something that frankly, we in the criminal defense bar find offensive,” Gross said.
One of the criticisms targeted Jackson’s defense of four Guantanamo Bay detainees, in which she alleged in legal briefs, the occurrence of torture constituted federal law violations. The charges were all eventually dropped, resulting in the detainees being released.
Lawmakers challenged Jackson on her allegiance to the American justice system, questioning whether any personal biases influenced her work as a public defender.
Gross stressed the importance of criminal defense lawyers keeping objective while defending accused individuals. He adds Jackson would provide unique insight if confirmed.
“Without that independence of the defense bar and without that zealous advocacy of the defense bar, it would be impossible for anyone to rely on the criminal justice system,” Gross said. “
The unique perspectives of the criminal defense attorney are important to have on the Supreme Court. While we trust as an article of faith that all judges can objectively arrive at the correct outcome in a given case irrespective of their personal experiences, it is difficult to read the law that has been authored in the past 30 years without noticing the absence of that point of view on the nation’s highest court,” Gross noted in a prepared statement released last week.
The Senate is expected to vote on whether to confirm Judge Jackson by the end of this week.