Constitutional law expert and Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Friday that President Joe Biden's selection of Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is ''a terrific nominee,'' but said he ''didn't like the process'' Biden used.
''I think she's a terrific nominee,'' Dershowitz said on ''Spicer & Co.'' ''I don't like [the] process by which she was nominated to the exclusion of everybody except a Black woman. I don't like the fact that the president said part of the reason he nominated her is because he wants the court to 'look like America.' That's superficial diversity.''
Jackson, 51, would be the first Black woman on the high court, fulfilling Biden's campaign promise to nominate an African American woman to the Supreme Court.
''For too long, our government, our courts haven't looked like America,'' Biden said, annnouncing the nomination on Friday at the White House. ''And I believe it's time that we have a Court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications and that we inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve their country at the highest level.''
Biden said Jackson has the qualifications and traits the job requires and meets the tradition of nominations by presidents in both parties throughout history.
''Judge Jackson grew up in Miami, Florida,'' he said. ''Her parents grew up with segregation but never gave up hope that their children would enjoy the true promise of America.''
Dershowitz said that Jackson served as a public defender, and bringing that experience to the bench represents the true diversity and strength of her nomination.
''Actually, this nomination does have true diversity,'' Dershowitz said. ''She is the first nominee that is a public defender.''
But Dershowitz said that, like the other justices on the bench who graduated from Harvard or Yale — apart from Justice Amy Coney Barrett — Jackson went to the elite Harvard Law School.
''She has no diversity when it comes to academic background,'' he said. ''Right now, the Supreme Court consists of everybody who went to Harvard and Yale law school, except for Justice Barrett, who went to an equally distinguished and elite law school, Notre Dame, so we have virtually no diversity on the court in terms of educational background.''
He also pointed to the recent trend of nominating only candidates that could muster enough votes from the party controlling the Senate to be confirmed, noting that Republicans blocked then-President Barack Obama's nominee Merrick Garland for eight months before the 2016 election, while pushing Barrett's nomination through eight weeks before the 2020 vote.
Dershowitz said that the Senate, which must confirm Jackson for the seat, used to be able to come together and confirm even highly opinionated nominees, such as the late Antonin Scalia, by almost unanimous votes.
''I hope that there's a real debate that goes into the real merits,'' he said. ''I think based on merits she deserves to be confirmed, and I'd like to see her confirmed in a bipartisan way. Just like I'd like to see Republican nominees who are really, really, good confirmed.''
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