Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, questioned Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson about when to “enhance” sentencing guidelines as the Senate Judiciary Committee continued its Supreme Court confirmation hearings March 23.
These guidelines “are designed to set out a series of factors that judges should be looking at” when deciding the length of a sentence, Jackson said. These factors include whether, for example, there’s a violent crime and a weapon or injury was involved. In addition to calculating the guidelines with these “enhancements,” judges must also weigh the statutory factors that Congress has put into place, she added.
Jackson also said that Supreme Court has ruled in case law that judges may make decisions, based “on a policy matter,” that reflect their disagreements with particular enhancements.
It was senators’ final day to question Jackson, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in February to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman on the high court. On the final day of the hearings March 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from friends and colleagues of Jackson about her temperament and approach to the law.
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