- Rep. Pramila Jayapal criticized Republicans' treatment of SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
- The top progressive Democrat said the GOP's "baseless and frankly racist attacks" disparaged Jackson.
- The comments come after several GOP senators aggressively questioned Jackson on her record this week.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, criticized Republican senators' treatment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearings this week.
"The Republican party — from Senators on the committee, to members of the Caucus, to campaign arms on social media — have used this occasion not to undertake a serious constitutional obligation, but rather to berate, hector, and discredit the first Black woman nominated to the high court," Jayapal said in a statement on Friday.
"The baseless and frankly racist attacks we have seen in recent days demean the Senate Judiciary Committee and these proceedings, and disparage the nominee to an unacceptable degree," she added.
The harsh criticism comes after Jackson faced aggressive questioning this week from several Republican senators, including Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The GOP members grilled Jackson on her sentencing record while she served as a federal district judge, specifically pointing to a handful of child-pornography cases in which she imposed shorter sentences than the federal guidelines recommended.
Hawley, who first aired the accusations against Jackson on Twitter last week, went as far as to claim that Jackson's record "endangers our children."
Jackson defended her record throughout four days of hearings, pushing back on charges that she's lenient toward child-pornography offenders or "soft on crime" as several Republicans suggested.
Legal experts also came to Jackson's defense, calling the GOP claims misleading and inaccurate because they lack key context and data that her sentencing is in line with the majority of federal judges. They also said that it's been widely known in the legal world that those federal sentencing guidelines are outdated and overly severe.
Jackson has been endorsed by several top law-enforcement officials and groups across the country, which rejected the claims that she's "soft on crime."
Republicans also seized on Jackson's public defender background, which involved representing Guantanamo Bay detainees. Jackson emphasized that her job involved upholding constitutional rights to counsel to ensure a fair legal system.
"Federal public defenders don't get to pick their clients," Jackson said on Tuesday. "It's a service. That's what you do as a federal public defender. You are standing up for the constitutional value of representation."
Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who at one point sought to link Jackson to critical race theory during the confirmation hearings, dismissed that Republicans attacked Jackson this week.
"I know you've have gotten frustrated with us with asking tough questions, but that is our job to do that," Blackburn told Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin during Thursday's hearing.
"You may ask a tough question as long as it is fair," Durbin replied.
"Every question we have asked has been fair," Blackburn pushed back.
'All too familiar to women, especially women of color'
Beyond the critiques of her record, multiple Republican senators, including Cruz and Graham, also repeatedly interrupted and talked over Jackson as she answered their questions this week.
"Judge Jackson's treatment will unfortunately be all too familiar to women, especially women of color and particularly Black women," Jayapal said in her statement. "We can recall every moment we've experienced what can at best be described as antagonizing and at worst as bullying."
"But of course, Judge Jackson responded as Black women and women of color will also recognize: with poise and unflappable dignity," she continued.