Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) announced his intentions to vote against Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
During his weekly press call with reporters, Tuberville outlined his opposition to President Joe Biden’s first high court nominee.
“First, I want to note how important it was to me that I met with Judge Jackson one on one. I viewed it as an opportunity for Judge Jackson to hear directly from the people of Alabama, what they’re concerned about and what they believe the proper role of government is,” noted Tuberville. “We covered a lot of ground in our meeting last week, including a robust discussion about the protection of the Second Amendment rights and the importance of following the rule of law.”
The senator made mention of Jackson’s sentencing record during her tenure as judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Echoing the concerns of his fellow Republicans colleagues, Tuberville asserted that Jackson had “let those convicted of a crime off easy” and lamented what he deemed to be Jackson’s lenient sentencing of criminals convicted in child pornography cases.
“[J]udge Jackson’s answers to my questions were thoughtful but did not relieve my concerns about her sentencing record, particularly her record on sentencing of criminals who preyed on young children,” advised the senator. “Children are our future. We should do all we can to ensure our communities are safe and are safe places for them to grow up. That means holding criminals accountable to the full letter of the law.”
“In listening to the calls I’m getting from the folks back home, Alabamians agree. So, I will vote no on Judge Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court later this week,” concluded Tuberville.
In voting against Jackson’s confirmation, Tuberville joins a vast majority of his Senate GOP colleagues, including U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa), in opposing her nomination to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
As of reporting time, at least three Republican senators have announced their support of Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, something Tuberville decried during a Tuesday appearance on Newsmax TV’s “The Chris Salcedo Show.”
In the interview, Tuberville specifically noted the lack of complete unity among the Senate GOP Caucus regarding Jackson’s high court nomination. Moderate U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have each announced their plans to vote for Jackson’s confirmation.
Tuberville took issue with the senators’ decision to vote in favor of Jackson, saying, “We’ve got Republicans voting for this lady and it’s an absolute disaster.”
"For us to survive in this country, we've got to have a unifying cause and a plan to go forward and not backwards." @SenTuberville reacts to the political division in America.
MORE: https://t.co/7KcL6cABGa pic.twitter.com/OPbitRjsA8
— Newsmax (@newsmax) April 5, 2022
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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