Should Republicans Support or Oppose Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson?

Ketanji Brown Jackson will likely be confirmed to the Supreme Court by a Senate vote later this week despite resistance from some Republicans. Are her detractors justified or misguided?

Republicans Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitt Romney have said they'll vote for Jackson, making her confirmation all but certain in the evenly-divided Senate. Other GOP senators, like Lindsey Graham and Ben Sasse, praised Jackson's resume while opposing her over concerns about her ideology. Jackson, 51, would become the court's first black female justice if confirmed. Her qualifications and demeanor have been commended by people across the political spectrum. Others, especially on the right, argue that her purportedly lenient sentencing for child porn offenses as a district court judge and refusal to offer the definition of "woman" during her Senate hearings suggest that she's philosophically progressive and unfit for the court. Recent polls suggest that up to two-thirds of Americans support Jackson's confirmation.

Opinions from the left often support for Jackson and frame resistance to her as being motivated by hyperpartisanship or even racism. Some on the left also argue that opposition to Jackson could be politically detrimental for Republicans, given her public popularity. Many opinions from the right criticize Romney and other Republicans who support Jackson, and cite Democrats' polarization of hearings for Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett as justification for opposing her even if she's properly qualified. Others on the right argue that Jackson is far-left and would become a Democratic pawn if confirmed.