Flashback: Some media said it was 'dangerous' to criticize Ketanji Brown Jackson, 'Trying to get her killed'
Weeks later angry mobs surround the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Only a few weeks before conservative justices of the Supreme Court faced contentious protests at their homes, some liberal media complained it was "dangerous" to simply question Ketanji Brown Jackson's record, while others seethed about "disturbing" criticism she faced during Senate confirmation hearings.
Over 40 Republican lawmakers introduced a resolution on Thursday to condemn protests in front of Supreme Court justices' homes, amid demonstrations over the leaked draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
The resolution expresses support for the enforcement of a federal law that makes it illegal to "picket or parade" outside a courthouse or a judge's residence "with the intent of influencing any judge… in the discharge of his duty." This comes after activists have spent recent days attempting to intimidate justices and other actions across the country have resulted in violence, threats and vandalism.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ketanji Brown Jackson, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court nominee for U.S. President Joe Biden, wipes away tears during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C. (Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Some onlookers have been concerned for the safety of the conservative justices, as passionate protests can get out of hand and become dangerous.
While the resolution is unlikely to pass in the Democrat-controlled House, liberal journalists and pundits recently sounded the alarm that simply asking tough questions of Jackson during her confirmation hearings could lead to harm being done against her.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On April 30, New York Times magazine’s Nikole Hannah-Jones, the mastermind of the controversial 1619 Project, declared that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had "no reason" to ask Jackson about books related to critical race theory during the hearing and feared it would lead to violence against Jackson.
"It reveals a danger…how dangerous of a period we are in right now, because there's no reason that that should have been brought up and it had nothing to do with the hearing," Hannah-Jones said, "So this targeting has consequences. What my fear is that it can lead to violence, like actual violence."
In March, MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle declared Sen. Josh Hawley’s, R-Mo., hard-hitting inquiry about Jackson’s record could put her in harm’s way.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MCCONNELL CALLS ON DOJ TO INVESTIGATE PROTESTERS FOR INTIMIDATING JUSTICES AFTER SCOTUS OPINION LEAK
"Hawley is not backing down," Ruhle said. "What he is doing is dangerous, it is character assassination of a woman who is going to be confirmed."
CNN’s John Harwood was on the same page, appearing to suggest in March that probing Jackson’s record lead to something "dangerous."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Harwood tweeted, "on ambitious GOP senators ‘playing to the base’ w/KBJ: -conservative Nat'l Review calls their attacks ‘meritless’ -they know a disturbed man fantasizing about Dems and child sex trafficking fired an assault rifle in DC pizzeria in 2016…political fun-and-games can get dangerous."
He was referring to the 2016 shooting at a Washington D.C. pizza place by Edgar Maddison Welch. Jackson was the judge who sentenced him to four years of prison.
Protesters at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. (Fox News Digital)
The Nation's Elie Mystal also felt Hawley was "trying to get her killed" by grilling Jackson during confirmation hearings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What Josh Hawley is doing. Let's be very clear. What Josh Hawley is doing when he tries to do this is he's trying to get her killed. He is trying to get violence done against a Supreme Court nominee," Mystal said on MSNBC.
Mystal didn’t find things so alarming when protests caused chaos outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh this week.
"I think it was really bad when Joe Manchin made Joe Biden criticize peaceful protests outside of Brett Kavanaugh’s house," he tweeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If only they had brought some beer to make Kav feel more comfortable," he said in response to another tweet about the protests.
Demonstrators in support of reproductive rights protest outside of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, near Washington, U.S., May 7, 2022. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
The New York Times published an opinion piece by former Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse on April 1 that claimed senators who voted against confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson as the next associate justice on the nation's highest court would be "complicit" in her "abuse" by Republicans.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the op-ed, Greenhouse, who spent thirty years covering the Supreme Court for the liberal paper, claimed Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee mischaracterized Jackson's record as a lawyer and judge with "racist dog whistles," "QAnon shout-outs," and innuendos towards support for terrorism in a manner of behavior vastly different from confirmation hearings in the past.
"Every Republican who votes against her confirmation will be complicit in the abuse that the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee heaped on her," Greenhouse wrote.
The liberal Guardian publication even questioned if grilling Jackson during the confirmation hearing foreshadowed a "disturbing" move in GOP politics.
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The Guardian’s April 7 piece, "Republicans’ ugly attacks on Ketanji Brown Jackson show lurch to far right," stated that "bareknuckle tactics used by some Republicans to discredit Jackson underscored just how far to the right the party has drifted and may foreshadow a new, disturbing ‘normal’ for American politics."
Fox News’ Alexa Moutevelis, Lindsay Kornick, Tyler Olson and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.