Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said during her confirmation hearings March 22 that the original meaning of the Constitution could not be limited to only problems that existed at the founding of the United States and had to be applied to modern technology, too.
“There is no question that cellphones didn’t exist at the time of the founding. So if the originalist principle is we look only at the Constitution as it relates to things that existed at the time of the founding, there would be no answer to what to do about a cellphone,” Jackson said in response to a question from Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.
Jackson said the principle of the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable government searches and seizures, has been applied by the Supreme Court to the issue of privacy and technology, including cases involving cellphones.
“They also have looked at property interests with respect to whether or not there is an invasion of privacy and then determined from history what that reasonable expectation of privacy related to back at the time of the founding and analogized to current circumstances,” Jackson said.
Jackson was nominated by President Joe Biden in February to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman on the high court. After opening statements from Jackson, her colleagues and the senators March 21, senators will spend two days questioning Jackson at length about her rulings and judicial philosophy. On the final day of the hearings March 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from friends and colleagues of Jackson about her temperament and approach to the law.
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