ICYMI: GOP Appointed Appeals Court Judge Thomas B. Griffith Urges Senators to Confirm Judge Kentaji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court

Judge Thomas B. Griffith, a retired Bush appointee to the D.C. Circuit of Appeals, endorsed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court in a letter written to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Last week, President Biden announced his intent to nominate Judge Jackson, one of our nation's brightest legal minds, as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Jackson's confirmation would be the first Black woman to sit on the nation's highest court.

Judge Griffith, nominated in 2004 by George W. Bush, served on the same appellate court on which Judge Jackson now sits. In endorsing Judge Jackson, he wrote, "Judge Jackson has a demonstrated record of excellence, and I believe, based upon her work as a trial judge when I served on the Court of Appeals, that she will adjudicate based on the facts and the law and not as a partisan," highlighting her "careful approach, extraordinary judicial understanding and collegial manner."

Axios: First look: Jackson gets heavyweight Republican backer
[By Sophia Cai, 2/27/2022]

Judge Thomas B. Griffith, a retired Bush appointee to the D.C. Circuit of Appeals, endorsed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court in a letter written to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Jackson's nomination kicks off a monthlong process to confirm what would be the first Black woman to sit on the nation's highest court. The Biden administration has been trying to court Republican votes in the 50-50 Senate, with uncertain success.

What we're watching: Griffith is the first of several Republican legal luminaries who'll be speaking out this week in favor of Jackson, a person familiar with the matter told Axios.

• Griffith was nominated in 2004 by Republican President George W. Bush to serve on the same appellate court on which Jackson now sits. He's a graduate of Brigham Young University and has been active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the same faith as a Republican courted by Democrats, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
• President Biden gave him a shoutout during his speech last week announcing Jackson's nomination.

Griffith wrote: "Judge Jackson has a demonstrated record of excellence, and I believe, based upon her work as a trial judge when I served on the Court of Appeals, that she will adjudicate based on the facts and the law and not as a partisan."

• In his letter addressed to Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Griffith goes on to highlight Jackson's "careful approach, extraordinary judicial understanding and collegial manner."
• Notably, Jackson — whose uncles and brother have worked in policing — also has the support of the country's largest policing organization, the Fraternal Order of Police.

Read the full story here.