KBJ Hearings Day 4

But first, lets check in on Justice Clarence Thomas, hospitalized at the beginning of the week with an otherwise unspecified infection. At PJ Media, Matt Margolis is worried, Should We Be Panicking About Justice Clarence Thomas Now? Only a little. AllahPundit at Haut Hair, Supreme Court: Still no comment on Clarence Thomas. Kaelen Deese at WaEx, Supreme Court mum on health of Thomas, Breyer thinks 'he's fine'. TMZ, CLARENCE THOMAS IS FINE ... And I Got No Dog In Confirmation Fight. Would Breyer lie? OK, so maybe I'm a little concerned.

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 03.24.22 (Afternoon Edition) Da Tech Guy says If You Don’t Start With The Presumption That Judge Jackson Is Dishonest And Dishonorable You’re A Fool. That's a reasonable presumption with most politicians. Is she an honest judge or a politician? We're likely to find out. Someone at Politico claims The Jackson Hearings Were an Opportunity for the GOP. They Didn’t Take It. Ain't that always the case? Althouse quotes Dahlia "But if we can all agree what the GOP agenda has been, I remain utterly mystified by the Democrats. They have the votes to confirm [Ketanji Brown Jackson]..."

I think I can solve the mystery of what the Democrats are afraid of. They're afraid of the electorate and that to lay out a "theory for progressive jurisprudence" would only alienate people. It's better to hold back, blandly honor the historic!!! nominee, and wait for the Republicans to create the opportunities to call them meanies. I strongly suspect that Lithwick knows this very well.

Two issues have drawn the most fire from Republicans. First is the claim that her ruling in child porn suggest a weak attitude on crime. Also from Wombat's In The Mailbox: 03.24.22 (Afternoon Edition)  from Power Line Democrats Condone Child Porn? Only in the schools. Also, at Weasel Zippers: Judge Jackson Says She Was Lenient On Pedo Because Of His “Diplomas & Certificates”. From  the Wombats In The Mailbox: 03.24.22 (Evening Edition),  Weasel Zippers: Ted Cruz – “Judge Jackson Had No Explanation For Why She Was Lenient In Sentencing Pedophiles”.

Change?

The other main issue, of course, ist KJB response to Marsha Blackburn that she could not define what a woman was. Althouse defends her (of course) in When Ketanji Brown Jackson said "Can I provide a definition? No. I can't... Not in this context I can't." Darn lawyers. Elle Reynolds at Da Fed wonders If Ketanji Brown Jackson Doesn’t Know What A ‘Woman’ Is, Why Does She Use The Word So Much? To claim double victim status (black and woman). Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 03.24.22 (Afternoon Edition), Hogewash, Don’t Know Much Biology.

Jordon Boyd at Da Fed notes the the WaPoo Says Asking KBJ Questions About Her Legal Rulings Is Worse Than Falsely Accusing Kavanaugh Of Rape. Capt. Ed at Haut Hair too, WaPo editors: KBJ got treated worse than Brett Kavanaugh, you know "Is this a take from the Babylon Bee?" Rusty Weiss at PI sees that fiercely heterosexual Democrat Cory Booker Cries While Praising Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. “Don’t worry, my sister,” Booker continued, his voice quivering. “Don’t worry. God has got you.” From  the Wombats In The Mailbox: 03.24.22 (Evening Edition),  The Victory Girls, Cory Booker Don’t Know Much About the Supreme Court Senate Confirmation History, if he thinks this was mean. I suspect he knows better.

Althouse, who normally spurns the use of children as political props goes gaga over a picture of The loving husband and daughter. How do we know that's a daughter? Did she consult a biologist? How about Kavanaugh's kids? Also, "I’m fairly certain womenfolk everywhere saw themselves in that statement and felt something deep inside their souls", Writes Michele L. Norris, in "The timeless truth Ketanji Brown Jackson said out loud" (WaPo). "It's quite odd to say "womenfolk" other than jocosely. I searched the WaPo archive for recent uses and came up with . . . "

At Haut Hair, John Sexton pretty well refutes Dana Milbank: Ted Cruz is a hypocrite for sending his kids to a school with some of the same books in the library. Milbank is self-refuting. 

The fact that Kendi’s books are part of the school’s library or that the school is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion isn’t quite the same thing as having the book Antiracist Baby recommended for K-2nd graders at Georgetown Day.  . . . The bottom line is that summer seminars for willing adult parents is not the same thing as recommending K-2nd grade student read Antiracist Baby as part of the curriculum. If that’s the best Milbank can do then he hasn’t really demonstrated any hypocrisy on Cruz’s part

At the Volokh Reports, Jon Adler examines how Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Says She Intends to Recuse from Harvard Admissions Case if Confirmed

As I noted in my prior post, Jackson's recusal may not affect the outcome of the case. Because Harvard prevailed below, the petitioners need five votes to prevail, and few expect a Justice Jackson would be inclined in their favor. Whether Jackson recuses or not, Harvard will need to attract the votes of at least two of the Court's six conservative justices to prevail.

"The petitioners claim that Harvard is discriminating against Asian applicants and are asking the Court to hold that federal law prohibits any use of race in college admissions, while Harvard maintains its admissions practices are consistent with the Supreme Court's decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, and that this precedent should be upheld."