President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said she could not define the term “woman” during Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, telling Sen. Marsha Blackburn that she is “not a biologist.”
From the Post Millennial:
“Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Blackburn asked simply.
“Can I provide a definition?” Jackson responded. “No, I can’t.”“You can’t?” Blackburn asked. (Both the Senator and the judge are, in fact, women.)
“Not in this context,” Jackson said. “I’m not a biologist.”
Things got more tense from there, with Blackburn asking Jackson what was so “controversial” about defining the word while Jackson argued that the only place she would be forced to define such a word was during a dispute she was hearing:
“Senator, in my work as a judge, what I do is I address disputes. If there’s a dispute about a definition, people make arguments and I look at the law and I decide, so I’m not—” Jackson said.
“Well the fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscored the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about,” Blackburn said. “Just last week, an entire generation of young girls watched as our taxpayer funded institutions permitted a biological man to compete, and beat, a biological woman in the NCAA swimming championships.
Blackburn then asked what girls should conclude from Jackson’s non-answer, but Jackson continued to deflect:
“What message do you think this sends to girls,” Blackburn asked, “who aspire to win in sports at the highest levels?”
“Senator, I’m not sure what message that sends,” Jackson responded. “If you’re asking me about the legal issues related to it, um those are topics that are being hotly discussed, as you say, and could come to the Court, so…”
Jackson’s confirmation hearings entered their third day Wednesday, with Democratic Dem. Dick Durbin saying the questions from both side have been “appropriate” thus far.
“The overwhelming majority of senators on both sides, I thought were asking appropriate questions and positive in their approach and respectful of the nominee before us,” Durbin said, while adding that Republicans have attempted to “showcase talking points” ahead of November’s election.
The hearings are also taking place amid the hospitalization of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was admitted for “flu-like” symptoms on Friday night.
Thomas, a nominee of former President George H.W. Bush, is one of the most dependable conservative justices currently serving on the bench.
