With the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court comes many opinions, some positive and some negative. 

The Senate has been grilling Jackson for over a week, about anything from her faith to her former cases.

“I think it’s very clear that Judge Jackson is very qualified for her position. Even before the Senate hearings, it was very clear that everyone was like, yeah we are going to put her through,” said senior Anthony Alvarez. 

He also said he believes the Senate is using this as an opportunity to bring up the issues they plan to campaign on in November’s midterms. 

Another hot topic in the hearings is the amount of Justices on the Court. Currently, there are nine justices, and some believe the Democratic party wants to add more.

“I am personally one of the people who think the Supreme Court should expand. I think as the population of the United States expands, and there are more issues to talk about, it would be better to add more justices” said Alvarez

This is not the opinion of everyone, however, some people think the number of justices should remain at nine. 

“I would say yes, it’s a fair number. It’s good to have a selected number of people,” said Mr. Reitemeier who is one of the history teachers. 

He went on to explain that with all the cases that are submitted to the Court, only about 80 of them are heard, so in his opinion, there doesn’t need to be more. 

Jackson said she is not looking to expand the Court during the hearings. 

Besides the hearings, Jackson is getting a lot of attention for being the first black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court. 

“I think it’s great, but it does make me a little sad. I’m really proud she’s there, I just wish it wasn’t as hard as it had to be,” said Alvarez. 

Jackson has brought attention to the issue of inclusivity in the Court. Many hope this is a step towards more inclusivity in the American government. 

“Seeing that she’s the first black woman, this is what we need. Hopefully, we get more diversity.” Said Senior Lisa Calhoun, “I hope we get more of that in the future.”

Alvarez and Reitemeier both agreed with the statement, saying they hoped that this helps bring more inclusivity to the court. 

Other questions about Jackson have been about her judicial philosophy. When she was asked about it, she said she followed a method that helped make her decision. This method includes starting neutral, listening to the facts, and judging based on the law. 

“She has been pretty conscientious when it comes to criminal court cases. I think she really takes the whole picture of why a crime has been committed in a person’s history,” said Alvarez. 

Along with her philosophy, there is the question of the Court’s philosophy, and whether or not it represents the whole of the American people. 

“I would say yes, just simply because, I mean, that’s one of their sworn oaths is to serve this country and being such a high profile, public leader with somebody who shares the same amount as the President in terms of power, of course, your responsibilities are different in terms of their power,” said Reitmeier. 

Some agree with this, but it is a very complicated issue. 

Jackson’s hearings have been completed, however, the senate has not reached a decision on her confirmation. 

“I actually look up to her more than I already did. Hopefully, a whole bunch of other little black girls feel that they can be up there too,” said Calhoun.