Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson about the importance of clear rulings as the Senate Judiciary Committee continued its Supreme Court confirmation hearings March 23.
To help the public understand the framework of judicial decision-making, Jackson said legal principles, such as stare decisis and precedence, offer guidance and create a trail of bread crumbs of established law for future decisions.
She pointed specifically to a 2019 case she ruled on as U.S. District Judge, in which she found that former White House counsel Don McGahn must comply with a request from the House to testify as part of the impeachment investigation into former President Donald Trump.
In a ruling cited often during the week’s hearings, Jackson wrote that “presidents are not kings” and that “no one is above the law.”
In response to Klobuchar’s questioning, Jackson said it was important in that ruling to clarify McGahn could “invoke executive privilege in response to particular questions but … couldn’t say, I don’t have to show up at all.”
“It’s important to be clear in your rulings so that people understand that judges are ruling consistent with the law and not their own personal views,” Jackson said.
It was senators’ final day to question Jackson, who 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. 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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