Highlights from Senate vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson

The Senate voted 53-47 in a bipartisan vote on Jackson's nomination.

Last Updated: April 7, 2022, 5:29 PM EDT

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, was confirmed by the Senate in a 53-47 vote Thursday.

She got three Republican votes, marking a bipartisan victory for President Joe Biden and his high court nominee.

Mar 22, 2022, 11:41 AM EDT

Jackson on abortion cases: 'Roe and Casey are the settled law'

As she's asked previous Supreme Court nominees, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., questioned Judge Jackson on her judicial views on abortion with the nation's high court set to decide cases this term that could overturn decades of legal precedent.

"I do agree with both Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Barrett on this issue," Jackson said, referring to their answers to Feinstein at their confirmation hearings. "Roe and Casey are the settled law of the Supreme Court concerning the right to terminate a woman's pregnancy."

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies on her nomination to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, March 22, 2022.
Doug Mills/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Feinstein then asked, "Does Roe v. Wade have the status of being a case that is a super precedent, and what other Supreme Court cases do you believe have that status?"

"Well senator, all Supreme Court cases are precedential, they're binding. And their principles and their rulings have to be followed," she said.

"Roe and Casey, as you say, have been reaffirmed by the court, and have been relied upon, and reliance is one of the factors that the court considers when it seeks to revisit or is asked to revisit a precedent," she continued. "In all cases, the precedent of the Supreme Court would have to be reviewed pursuant to those factors because stare decisis is very important."

Mar 22, 2022, 11:30 AM EDT

Graham laments the fate of his preferred Supreme Court pick

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina brought up Judge J. Michelle Childs, a U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina and his preferred nominee for the Supreme Court seat, asking Jackson about progressive groups supporting her nomination over that of Childs.

His voiced tinged with anger, Graham said, "In your nomination, did you notice people from the left were pretty much cheering you on?"

"A lot of people were cheering me on," Jackson replied.

Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, March 22, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
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Graham went on to allege there was a concerted effort to disqualify Childs because progressive groups painted her as a "union-busting unreliable Republican in disguise," but Jackson reminded him that she is still a sitting judge and said she has been focused on her cases.

"Would it bother you if that happened?" Graham continued to press.

Jackson, who received Graham's vote last year for the appellate court, answered that it would be "troublesome" if groups were doing anything to interfere with the nomination, but maintained that she wasn't aware of the criticism.

Mar 22, 2022, 11:11 AM EDT

Graham grills Jackson on her faith, makes comparison to Amy Coney Barrett

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham grilled Judge Jackson on her faith, appearing to try to make a point about how Democrats scrutinized Amy Coney Barrett's Catholic beliefs and membership in People of Praise in her confirmation hearings.

"What faith are you, by the way?" Graham asked first. "Could you fairly judge a Catholic?"

"How important is your faith to you?" he continued. "On a scale of one to 10, how faithful would you say you are in terms of religion?"

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies on her nomination to become an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C, on March 22, 2022.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Fielding the barrage of questions one by one, Jackson said she is a nondenominational Protestant Christian and that her faith is very important to her but declined to go in-depth on her faith practices. She also reminded that there's no religious test under the Constitution.

"I am reluctant to talk about my faith in this way," she said. "I want to be mindful of the need for the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views."

Sen. Lindsey Graham questions U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, March 22, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Graham went on to say he was not attacking her but trying to make a point about how "our people" -- conservative judicial appointees -- have been treated in the past.

"This stuff needs to stop. Our people deserve better respect. I hope when this is over, people will say you were well-treated even if we don't agree with you," he said.


-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

Mar 22, 2022, 10:56 AM EDT

Addressing 'soft on crime' attacks, Jackson defends record as a public defender

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., gave Judge Jackson a chance to defend herself against GOP attacks that she's "soft on crime or even anti-law enforcement because you accepted your duties as a public defender," he said.

Jackson said criminal defense lawyers perform a service but stressed that people must be held accountable for a society to function.

"As someone who has had family members on patrol and in the line of fire, I care deeply about public safety I know what it is like to have loved ones who go off to protect and to serve and the fear of not knowing whether or not they'll come home again because of crime in the community," she said, noting her brother and two uncles' careers in law enforcement.

Patrick Jackson takes notes as his wife Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, March 22, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

"The need for law enforcement, those are not abstract comments or political slogans to me. As a lawyer and citizen, I care deeply about our Constitution and the rights that make us free," she said.

Leahy also used his time to bring up former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan's praise of Jackson. Jackson's brother-in-law is married to Ryan's sister-in-law.

"That's powerful praise. And I think it goes to a fundamental point -- one doesn't have to have the same political beliefs or ideology as a judicial nominee to recognize their integrity or intellect," Leahy said.

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