By Tyler O’Neil | Fox News
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson
testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol
Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked if
the judge thinks the term is so 'unclear and controversial' that she won't
define it.
President Biden’s Supreme Court
nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson refused to define the word “woman” on the second
day of her confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.,
pressed Jackson on transgender issues Tuesday night.
“Do you agree that schools should
teach children that they can choose their gender?” Blackburn asked, after she
read a quote from Jackson regarding Georgetown Day School, the private school
on whose board Brown serves.
Jackson responded by noting that Georgetown Day School is private. When Blackburn pressed again, asking for the judge’s opinion, Jackson said, “Senator, I’m not making comments about what schools can teach.”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote the majority opinion in U.S. v. Virginia (1996), in which the Court struck down Virginia Military Institute’s male-only admissions policy.
“Supposed inherent differences
are no longer accepted as a ground for race or national origin
classifications,” Blackburn said, quoting Ginsburg. “Physical differences,
between men and women, however, are enduring. The two sexes are not fungible. A
community made up exclusively of one sex is different from a community composed
of both.”
“Do you agree with Justice
Ginsburg that there are physical differences between men and women that are enduring?”
the senator asked.
“Um, senator, respectfully I am
not familiar with that particular quote or case, so it’s hard for me to
comment,” the judge responded.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., listens to senators
opening statements during the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown
Jackson, President Bidens nominee for Associate Justice to the Supreme Court,
on Monday, March 21, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Do you interpret Justice Ginsburg’s meaning of men and women as male and female?” Blackburn pressed. Jackson did not comment on the matter.
“Can you provide a definition
for the word ‘woman?’” the senator asked.
“Can I provide a definition?
No,” Jackson responded. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” Blackburn asked.
“Not in this context, I’m not a
biologist,” the judge replied.
“Do you believe the meaning of
the word woman is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a
definition?” Blackburn pressed.
“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,” Jackson said.
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