Law360: How Judge Jackson Beat Out Competition For High Court Nod
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on February 25, 2022.
But legal experts say Judge Jackson’s nomination is more likely a reflection of her qualifications and her bipartisan support.
“It’s hard to take seriously allegations that she is a left-wing radical given the breadth of support she enjoys across the legal profession,” Daniel Goldberg, legal director for the liberal group Alliance for Justice, told Law360 on Friday.
“There is nothing in her record that suggests she is anything but a fair and unbiased jurist,” Goldberg said, adding that any Republican who opposes her should be prepared to explain to their constituents why they voted against an imminently qualified and historic nominee.
Goldberg said Judge Jackson’s nomination is a reflection of “the breadth of remarkable Black women judges and lawyers that the president could choose from” to fulfill his campaign pledge that he would pick a Black woman for the seat.
Her widespread support and recent bipartisan confirmation certainly helped her nab the nomination, Goldberg said, noting that everyone from former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to retired Republican-appointed D.C. Circuit Judge Thomas B. Griffith to the Fraternal Order of Police have given her Supreme Court nomination the thumbs up.
Goldberg said Judge Jackson has had a “stellar legal career and is a brilliant jurist; someone who will bring unique perspectives to the Supreme Court” and that he believes Biden “picked her because she will be a remarkable justice who will ensure the rights of all Americans, not just the wealthy and powerful over the next several decades.”