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Editor, News-Register:
The recent confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson by the United States Senate for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court to replace the soon-to-be retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, who has announced that he will be stepping down circa summer 2022, is most historic, indeed, as Ms. Jackson will be the first black female justice to serve in that august chamber of history of our great nation, fulfilling a campaign promise made by then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, that he would select a well-qualified woman of color for a seat on the highest court in the land, if/when a position became available.
Ms. Jackson will be filling the Supreme Court seat currently held by Breyer, who was appointed to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton, as he will be turning 84 on Aug. 15 of this year. For the record, Ms. Jackson will be the third black justice and sixth female justice in the court's history.
Sadly, however, it did strongly appear that numerous Senate Republicans (namely Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee) oftentimes chose to take the "low road" during confirmation hearings in an unabashed attempt to shamelessly appeal to those core constituents of the Trump MAGA crowd, in an overt attempt to convert the solemn, respectful occasion into more of a political event than a legitimate confirmation hearing.
The final vote to approve Ms. Jackson for confirmation was 53-47 in favor, with Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Susan Collins of Maine joining all Senate Democrats in voting in support of Ms. Jackson.
In addition, sadly, upon the announcement of Ms. Jackson's confirmation all Senate Republicans in attendance, with the exception of the three who voted in support of Ms. Jackson, chose to disrespectfully depart from the Senate Chamber, which was totally inappropriate and sophomoric on their part.
How does such troubling behavior make us look in the eyes of nations of the free world, of which we have long led and been highly respected by for countless decades?
In spite of the distracting shenanigans on the part of the "loyal opposition," it is my sincere hope that Ms. Jackson will have a long and very successful career as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Richard Hord
Martins Ferry