March 23, 2022

ICYMI: On Senate Floor, Senator Warren Applauds Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Professional Diversity, Urges Colleagues to Support Her Confirmation to the Supreme Court

“If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, bringing long overdue representation to the bench. After serving as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Washington, D.C., Judge Jackson will also be the first former federal public defender to serve on our nation’s highest court."

“It matters that someone nominated to sit on our nation’s highest court has represented people other than corporate clients. It matters that someone nominated has had real experience with people who can't afford lawyers. It matters that someone nominated has had real experience fighting for the public interest.”

Watch the Floor Remarks HERE

Washington, D.C. — Today United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) delivered a floor speech in support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as the next Supreme Court Justice and on the importance of professional diversity on the federal bench. Senator Warren has been a longtime advocate for professional diversity in the judiciary, including civil rights attorneys, legal aid lawyers, and public defenders. Once confirmed, Judge Jackson will provide an invaluable perspective to the highest court as the first former public defender.

Full transcript below.

Senator Warren: Mr. President, 

I rise today in support of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee to be an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. 

Judge Jackson brings an exceptional level of experience to the bench. After serving for nearly 8 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Jackson has more trial court experience than any sitting Supreme Court Justice and more than almost any justice in almost a century. She will also be only the second sitting justice to have served in all three levels of the federal judiciary. 

Judge Jackson’s nomination is historic. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, bringing long overdue representation to the bench. After serving as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Washington, D.C., Judge Jackson will also be the first former federal public defender to serve on our nation’s highest court. 

It matters that someone nominated to sit on our nation’s highest court has represented people other than corporate clients. It matters that someone nominated has had real experience with people who can't afford lawyers. It matters that someone nominated has had real experience fighting for the public interest.

The Sixth Amendment of our Constitution grants criminal defendants the right to have the assistance of counsel in their defense. But it wasn’t until 1963, in Gideon v. Wainwright, that the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Constitution required state courts to appoint lawyers for defendants who could not otherwise afford one. Now, some Republicans have complained about the very idea of having a public defender on the Supreme Court, but their objections run squarely afoul of the meaning of the Constitution. This fundamental constitutional right to counsel is safeguarded by the work public defenders do every single day.

Public defenders are literally on the front lines helping America live up to our constitutional ideals. Every American who supports and defends the Constitution should welcome a Supreme Court justice who has worked so hard to turn our constitutional ideals into reality.

Asked about her work as a public defender, Judge Jackson has said, (quote) “every person who is accused of criminal conduct by the government, regardless of wealth and despite the nature of the accusations, is entitled to the assistance of counsel.” Judge Jackson restates a foundational constitutional point, one that she has lived up close and personal. 

Public defenders understand better than anyone that none of us should be defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done. Everyone, regardless of who they are or what they’ve been accused of, deserves a lawyer. Our legal system, as imperfect as it may be, strives to deliver equal justice under law. It is only because of the commitment of public defenders, civil rights attorneys, and legal aid lawyers that we can aspire to achieve that ideal. And that’s why we need Judge Jackson’s expertise on the Supreme Court, and that’s why I have called for a long time now for prioritizing professional diversity on our federal bench.

For far too long, our federal judiciary has been dominated by those who only have experience representing the wealthy and the well-connected. But what about those who don’t have money or influence? We need more judges with experience representing the voiceless and disadvantaged.

The makeup of our federal and state courts has never fully reflected the American people. Over time, this lack of representation has formed cracks in the foundation of our legal system, cracks that weaken public trust and threaten the legitimacy of our institutions. 

A diverse judiciary matters. Judges—all judges—draw on their past personal and professional experience when analyzing the law and reviewing the facts of individual cases. Judges who have experience as public defenders, civil-rights attorneys and legal aid lawyers are well equipped to understand the circumstances that bring everyday Americans into the courtroom. It is that background that strengthens public trust and that reinforces the legitimacy of our judicial system.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said it best, she said:

...if the court doesn’t have legitimacy with the American public, it can’t do all that much. All kinds of different people should be able to look at the court and say, “I see somebody there who looks like me, who thinks the way I do, who has the experiences of the kind that I have had.” And that’s the kind of thing that gives the court public legitimacy.

Justice Kagan is right. 

Our judiciary will undoubtedly be made stronger because of Judge Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. 

And it’s not only her work as a public defender that informs Judge Jackson’s experience. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Jackson served first as an assistant special counsel and later as the vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. These experiences give her deep insight into the Sentencing Guidelines and enhance her ability to think critically about our criminal legal system’s impact on ordinary people. Judge Jackson’s first stint on the Commission inspired her to become an assistant federal public defender in order gain practical, firsthand insight into our criminal legal system. Her work in the trenches, representing those without means or power, provided Judge Jackson with an invaluable perspective into our system of justice and it gave her the opportunity to effectuate the fundamental right to counsel outlined in our Constitution. 

I look forward to supporting her confirmation and urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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