WATCH: Jackson responds to Graham’s questions on holding Guantanamo Bay detainees indefinitely

In the Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked the Supreme Court nominee if she believes that the Islamic State group, al-Qaida and other extremist groups are still at war with the United States. She responded affirmatively.

Graham proceeded to question Jackson about multiple amicus briefs she worked on regarding the executive branch’s ability to hold an enemy combatant indefinitely. Jackson clarified that several clients of hers made that argument, and asked her to draft their brief while she was working at a private law firm. Graham asked Jackson if she agreed with the arguments made within that brief.

“Respectfully, Senator, when you are an attorney and you have clients that come to you — whether they pay or not — you represent their positions before the court,” Jackson said. She added that as a “judge now, in order to determine the lawfulness or unlawfulness of any particular issue, I need to receive briefs and information making positions on all sides.”

Graham also suggested that “left-wing radical groups” had favored Jackson’s nomination over another contender, Judge Michelle Childs. Committee chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, noted after Graham’s questioning that Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who strongly supported Childs’ nomination, has since publicly voiced his support for Jackson.

Durbin also argued with the statistics that Graham offered on Guantanamo detainees. Since 2009, the recidivism rate of Guantanamo detainees who have been released is 5 percent, according to a summary released in 2020. Graham argued that number is instead 31 percent, but Durbin clarified that the 31 percent number goes back to 2005, not 2009. In fact, a total of 17 percent of former detainees have been “confirmed of reengaging” with terrorist activities reaching back before 2009, according to the 2020 report.

Jackson 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. After opening statements from Jackson, her colleagues and the senators March 21, senators will spend two days questioning Jackson at length about her rulings and judicial philosophy. 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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