This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is currently a judge on the D.C. Court of Appeals. Questions for Judge Jackson ranged from her judicial philosophy and methodology of constitutional interpretation; to her experience as a public defender and years as a trial court judge; to questions about various constitutional topics, from the First Amendment to the Fourth Amendment and other issues that may come before the Court for review.
Lisa Tucker, associate professor of law at Drexel University, and Melissa Murray, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU Law, join host Jeffrey Rosen to recap what we learned about Judge Jackson through four days of questioning by the committee.
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This episode was produced by Melody Rowell and engineered by Kevin Kilbourne. Research was provided by Kevin Closs, Ruben Aguirre, Sam Desai, and Lana Ulrich.
Participants
Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network at NYU Law. She’s also one of the hosts of Strict Scrutiny. She is a leading expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice. Prior to joining the NYU faculty, Murray was on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where she was the recipient of the Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction. From March 2016 to June 2017, she served as interim dean of the Berkeley Law.
Lisa A. Tucker is an Associate Professor of Law at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, where she has been a member of the faculty since 2007. Her scholarship focuses on the “underdogs” in family law, or those family members whose interests are underrecognized, undervalued, and underrepresented. Professor Tucker is also an expert on the United States Supreme Court and has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and the mainstream media about the Court as an institution. She is also the editor of Hamilton and the Law: Reading Today’s Most Contentious Legal Issues through the Hit Musical.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Watch the hearings on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s website
- “Amy Coney Barrett Was a Supermom. So Is Ketanji Brown Jackson,” by Melissa Murray in The New York Times.
- Interview with Lisa Tucker about her book Hamilton and the Law, including a story about Judge Jackson participating in a mock trial of Aaron Burr
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript may not be in its final form, accuracy may vary, and it may be updated or revised in the future.
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