The U.S. Senate kicked off the first day of confirmation hearings for President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday. If confirmed, Judge Jackson would be the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. A new poll published this week shows how many Americans want to see Judge Jackson confirmed as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.
Fifty-five percent of Americans in a Monmouth University national poll published Monday said that Judge Jackson should be confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Supreme Court. Twenty-one percent of respondents disagreed and 24 percent of respondents offered no opinion.
The Monmouth survey findings showed that 33 percent of respondents feel that Judge Jackson is “very qualified” to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. Fourteen percent of respondents feel that Jackson is “somewhat qualified” for the position. Nine percent of respondents feel that she is not qualified. A significant portion, 43 percent of respondents, “have not heard enough about the nominee to assess her qualifications.”
Other poll findings showed 53 percent of respondents approved of President Biden’s promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. Forty-one percent disapprove of Biden making this a “primary factor” in his decision. Forty-six percent of respondents “feel that having a court that looks like the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of the country” is very important.
In a follow-up question, 19 percent of respondents said they feel that having a black woman on the Supreme Court will “have a real impact on how cases are decided.” Forty-six percent said it will have “limited” impact, and 31 percent said it would have no impact.
“Expectations of Judge Jackson’s impact may be limited, but that might be seen as a good thing,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute said in the poll write-up.“The public may primarily see all nine justices as sharing a common background as jurists first and foremost. The diversity of its membership brings more nuance to their deliberations.” He added that overall reaction to Judge Jackson’s nomination is “broadly positive.”
Judge Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings began Monday and will continue this week. She has served as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since last year. She has served as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and worked as a public defender.