Leaders of the American Bar Association, which gave Jackson its top rating, praised her Thursday as a “first rate” judge “without any biases.”
Ann Claire Williams, a member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, said the association reached out to thousands of judges and lawyers nationwide — including federal prosecutors, defense attorneys and civil lawyers — and conducted confidential interviews with about 250 of those who had firsthand knowledge of Jackson’s abilities.
None of those interviewed, Williams said, felt that Jackson “demonstrated bias in any way.”
“The question we kept asking ourselves: How does one human being do so much, so extraordinarily well?” Williams said.
Jean Veta, another ABA member who co-led the association’s review of Jackson, said she concluded that Jackson’s “intellect is simply formidable.”
“She possesses all of the other important attributes of a great jurist,” Veta said. “She is practical and intuitive and curious and courteous and always impeccably well-prepared.”
Veta said that, when asked about the allegation that Jackson is soft on crime, “one high-ranking attorney in the U.S. attorney’s office responded, ‘I vehemently disagree.’ ”
“Another prosecutor, who has appeared multiple times before Judge Jackson, responded by saying such an allegation ‘absolutely was not borne out based on my experience with her,’ ” Veta said. “Instead, prosecutors, like the other lawyers we interviewed, praised Judge Jackson as a judge who considers all arguments before coming to a decision.”