This is a Cato Special Podcast. I'm Caleb Brown. President Biden has nominated

Cantonji Brown Jackson to be the next justice on the US Supreme Court

to replace the departing Stephen Breyer.

What do we know about her judicial philosophy?

What experience gives us an indication about how she might rule

on important issues of the day?

Cato's Thomas Berry comments.

Tell me about Kitanji Brown Jackson.

What are you looking for in terms of ultimate qualifications?

Well, Katanji Brown Jackson has been a judge on the DC circuit for about 10 months. She was a judge on the

DC District Court about eight years before that and her most relevant experience

before that was serving for about four years on the U.S. Sentencing

Commission, which is a fairly powerful independent agency that deals with sentencing reform.

So those are her three primary qualifications.

In addition, she's well known for having clerked for Justice Breyer.

So some would see this as a fitting succession, much like Justice Kavanaugh

clerked for Justice Kennedy whom he replaced.

So Clark Neely has made reference to the fact that Judge Jackson has never served in a courtroom

representing the government and unlike every other justice has defense experience.

What does that matter?

Indeed, she would be the first justice with defense experience since Thurgood Marshall left the court in the early 90s and as Clark has

studied the federal judiciary is extremely disproportionately full of former government

...