在特朗普的一系列司法任命后，乔·拜登总统的第一批联邦法院提名人展示了他们的惊人的多样性在参议院周三的证词中，尽管共和党人就种族在司法系统中的作用、宗教自由和扩大美国最高法院对候选人进行了盘问。

拜登提名凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊(Ketanji Brown Jackson)接替梅里克·加兰(Merrick Garland)，在备受瞩目的华盛顿特区巡回上诉法院(D . C . CircuIt Court of Illustration of Illustration)上担任司法部长。鉴于她在高等法院出现空缺时的领先竞争者地位，凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊(Ketanji Brown Jackson)是共和党问题的主要焦点。

拜登表示，他将在第一次机会时任命第一名非洲裔美国女性进入最高法院。杰克逊是目前仅有的35名在职黑人女性联邦法官之一联邦司法中心。只有四名是巡回法院法官。

前总统巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)于2012年提名前联邦公设辩护律师、前美国量刑委员会副主席兼专员杰克逊(Jackson)进入哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院。她曾为斯蒂芬·布雷耶大法官工作，许多自由主义者一直呼吁他退休。

周三在参议院司法委员会作证的其他被提名人包括被提名为美国第七巡回上诉法院法官的坎迪斯·杰克逊-阿基武米，以及被提名为新泽西州地区法院法官的治安法官扎希德·库赖希。如果得到证实，库赖希将成为第一位美国穆斯林联邦法官。

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法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊在当地高中生观看重演时聆听辩论

当委员会共和党人提出问题时，党派分歧就暴露出来了。

得克萨斯州共和党参议员约翰·科宁问杰克逊和杰克逊-阿基武米，他们都是黑人，他们对种族在司法系统中的作用有什么看法。

“当我拿到我的案子时，我在看论据、事实和法律。杰克逊说:“我有条不紊地有意抛开个人观点和任何其他不恰当的考虑。“我认为，在对一个案件的评估中，种族问题是不合适的。”

然而，她补充道，“由于我的身份，我可能以不同于我的一些同事的方式体验了生活。这可能很有价值。我希望如果我被巡回法院确认的话会有价值。”

参议员乔希·霍利(Josh Hawley)。当被问及她作为公设辩护律师写的一份判决备忘录，以及她是否认为强制性最低刑期是种族主义时，杰克逊-阿基武米问道。

“判决委员会和我们政府的其他机构已经进行了研究，表明了强制性最低刑期的种族影响，”她说。“这是本机构、本委员会已经考虑过的问题。”

几位共和党参议员提出了倡导团体“要求正义”，该团体已经支持杰克逊的提名并呼吁扩大最高法院。

“需求正义声称最高法院已经崩溃，”科宁说。“你以为最高法院坏了?”

凯文·拉马克/泳池/法新社通过盖蒂图像

克坦吉·布朗·杰克逊，被提名为美国哥伦比亚特区巡回法院法官

“参议员，我从来没有说过最高法院被打破，”杰克逊回答说。“再说一次，我不会评论最高法院的结构、规模、甚至运作，”她说。

共和党参议员托姆·提利斯也提出了“要求正义”，称该组织为“黑暗金钱自由组织”，并将其对她的支持与她2019年的裁决前白宫律师唐纳德·麦克甘必须在众议院司法委员会作证。

杰克逊在回应蒂莉斯时说，作为一名联邦法官，她有责任保持独立。

“我非常清楚我的义务是什么，我的责任是什么，”她说。“不要带着党派优势进行统治。不是为了获得影响力或做任何类似的事情而修改或精心设计我的决定。”

霍利问杰克逊她在2013年关闭的马里兰州蒙特罗斯基督教学校董事会任职的时间，并问她在那里的时间是否意味着她相信宗教自由。霍利说，董事会的信仰声明包括反对堕胎和男女同性恋、双性恋和变性者权利的语言，并指出大法官艾米·科尼·巴雷特(Amy Coney Barrett)因在一所有类似信仰的学校的董事会中而受到批评。

杰克逊称宗教自由是我们政府的基本原则，最高法院已经明确表示政府不能侵犯宗教权利。

“这些想法，这个概念来自我遵守最高法院先例的责任，遵循它的原则，而不是来自我可能有的任何个人观点，任何关于宗教的个人观点都不会进入我作为法官的服务，”她说。“我还会说，我曾在许多董事会任职，我不一定同意任何人的所有陈述——这些话可能包含在他们的材料中的所有东西，”她补充说。

在一个私人时刻，加利福尼亚州参议员亚历克斯·帕迪拉(Alex Padilla)问杰克逊，被提名为巡回法院法官意味着什么。

“这是这个国家的美丽和威严，一个像我这样出身的人能找到自己的位置，”她回答说。“因此，我非常感谢有这个机会以这种方式成为法律的一部分，我真的很感谢总统给我这个提名的荣誉。”

GOP senators grill potential Biden Supreme Court pick

After a flurry of Trump judicial appointments, President Joe Biden's first nominees to the federal courts showcased theirstriking diversityin Senate testimony Wednesday, even as Republicans grilled the candidates over the role of race in the judicial system, religious liberty and expanding the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom Biden nominated to replace Merrick Garland on the high-profile D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals when he picked Garland for attorney general, was a main focus of GOP questions given her status as a leading contender if there's a high court vacancy.

Biden has said he would appoint the first African American woman to the Supreme Court at his first opportunity. Jackson is one of just 35 active Black female federal judges currently serving, according to theFederal Judicial Center. Only four are circuit court judges.

Former President Barack Obama nominated Jackson, a former federal public defender and a former vice chair and commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, to the federal District Court for D.C. in 2012. She formerly clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer, whom many liberals have been calling for to retire.

Other nominees who testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee included Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, who has been nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and Magistrate Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, who was nominated to the District Court for New Jersey. If confirmed, Quraishi would be the first Muslim American federal judge.

Partisan divisions were on display when committee Republicans asked their questions.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked Jackson and Jackson-Akiwumi, who are both Black, about their views on the role of race in the judicial system.

"When I get my cases, I'm looking at the arguments, the facts and the law. I'm methodically and intentionally setting aside personal views, any other inappropriate considerations," Jackson said. "I would think that race would be the kind of thing that would be inappropriate to inject in an evaluation of a case."

However, she added, "I've experienced life in, perhaps, a different way than some of my colleagues because of who I am. And that might be valuable. I hope it would be valuable if I was confirmed to the circuit court.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked Jackson-Akiwumi about a sentencing memo she wrote as a public defender and if she thought that mandatory minimums were racist.

"Theere has been research by the Sentencing Commission and other agencies in our government that have shown the racial impact of mandatory minimum sentences," she said. "It's an issue that this body, in this very committee has considered."

Several Republican senators brought up the advocacy group Demand Justice, which hassupported Jackson's nominationand has called for expanding the Supreme Court.

"Demand Justice claims that the Supreme Court is broken," Cornyn said. "Do you think the Supreme Court is broken?"

"Senator, I've never said anything about the Supreme Court being broken," Jackson said in response. "Again, I'm not going to comment on, the structure, the size, the functioning even, of the Supreme Court," she said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., also brought up Demand Justice, calling the group a "dark money liberal group" and tied its support for her toher 2019 rulingthat former White House counsel Donald McGahn must testify before the House Judiciary Committee.

In her response to Tillis, Jackson said that as a federal judge she has a duty to be independent.

"I know very well what my obligations are, what my duties are," she said. "Not to rule with partisan advantage in mind. Not to tailor or craft my decisions in order to try to gain influence or do anything on the sort.”

Hawley asked Jackson about her time serving on the board of Montrose Christian School, a Maryland school that closed in 2013, and asked if her time there meant she believes in religious liberty. Hawley said that the board's statement of faith included language opposing abortion and LGBTQ rights, noting that Justice Amy Coney Barrett was criticized for being on the board of a school with similar beliefs.

Jackson called religious liberty a foundational tenet of our government and that the Supreme Court has made clear that government can't infringe on religious rights.

"Those ideas, that concept comes from my duty to observe Supreme Court precedent, to follow its tenets, not from any personal views that I might have and any personal views about religion would never into my service as a judge," she said. "I will also say that I've served on many boards, and that I don't necessarily agree with all of the statements of any-- of all of the things that those words might have in their materials," she added.

In a personal moment, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., asked Jackson what it meant to be nominated to a circuit court judgeship.

"It is the beauty and the majesty of this country, that someone who comes from a background like mine could find herself in this position," she answered. "And so I'm just enormously grateful to have this opportunity to be a part of the law in this way, and I'm truly thankful for the president giving me the honor of this nomination."