Second, in the summer 2022 edition of the Journal, I shared
my personal opinion about the inappropriate questioning
of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, now Justice Jackson, as
“soft on terrorism” because of her role as a public defender
and later as a private attorney representing a few Guantanamo
detainees who were never convicted of a crime.
I believe it was unfair and inappropriate for Senators to
question her fitness to serve on the Supreme Court of the
United States because of these representations, just as it was
unfair and inappropriate for Senators to question Justice
Amy Coney Barrett about her faith and religious beliefs
during her confirmation hearing. The circus atmosphere
at recent U.S. Senate confirmation hearings, particularly
for Supreme Court Justices, has negatively impacted the
public’s confidence in the Rule of Law and our system of
justice. Senators who mislead the public with their questioning
are seeking votes, not trying to uphold and instill
confidence in our Rule of Law.
The Executive Committee has asked Chair John Wester of
our Judicial Independence Committee and Chair Mark
Anderson of our Judiciary Committee to jointly analyze
potential reforms to improve confirmation hearings of
judicial nominees by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The goal is to improve civility and accountability of
Senators’ behavior in confirmation hearings. The Joint
Committee has examined the creation of a code of
conduct and standards/questioning guidelines for the
Senate Judiciary Committee. They have explored whether
the best method is a position paper or an open letter to
the Senate Judiciary Committee. The College can play
an important role in educating our students, lawyers,
politicians, and fellow citizens to embrace, not attack or
undermine, some of our cherished ideals such as the right
of an accused to an attorney or the right to religious beliefs.
The Mission Statement of our Judiciary Committee
includes efforts to “analyze and seek to ameliorate barriers
to the attraction and retention of highly qualified judges.”
Many highly qualified lawyers who would otherwise
want to be considered for a federal judgeship would
view the unprofessional and unproductive behavior of
both political parties during confirmation hearings,
which have become progressively worse over the last
thirty years, as a significant barrier to their judicial
intentions. We hope to offer concrete suggestions to
reaffirm the importance of civility to these hearings.
Thank you for tolerating my personal perspective on these
issues. Of course, any final recommendations will be
subject to review and approval by our Board of Regents.
During our many trips, I developed a pattern of walking
around the city we found ourselves in at dawn each
morning. I have always enjoyed sunrises and wanted to
experience as much of each city as I could. Of course,
these walks revealed troubling truths about the impact
of the pandemic on our cities. However, the morning
after the Southern California meeting I walked around
the hills of downtown LA and noticed a homeless woman
sleeping on a bus bench. On my return to the hotel,
I passed the homeless woman again. As I was about to
pass her, an unmarked private car stopped and a man
exited from the car. I slowed down my walk and intently
watched to make sure nothing inappropriate was going
to happen to this poor woman. I then noticed the man
gently touch the woman on the arm to ask if she would
like breakfast. The man then went to his trunk and offered
her a bag of breakfast items. The man left and the
woman had what was probably her first meal in a while. I
was humbled and grateful.
During our travels this year, Brett and I have seen many
acts of kindness, most of them to us. I hope we all have
the opportunity to slow down enough in our fast worlds
to see what is there to be seen even when it is cloaked
in misery----hope and kindness. Thanks again for the incredible
privilege you provided Brett and me to serve the
College this year. We look forward to the terrific speakers
President-Elect Susan Harriman has assembled, the special
events our National Staff has organized, and seeing
many friends at the Annual Meeting in Rome, Italy.
15 JOURNAL