Leaders of the American Bar Association, which gave Jackson its highest rating, praised her Thursday as a “top-notch” judge “without any bias.”
Ann Claire Williams, a member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, said the association has contacted thousands of judges and attorneys nationwide – including federal prosecutors, defense attorneys and civilian attorneys — and had conducted confidential interviews with about 250 of those with first-hand knowledge of Jackson’s abilities.
None of those interviewed, Williams said, felt Jackson “showed bias in any way.”
“The question we kept asking ourselves: how can a human being do so much, so extraordinarily well?” said Williams.
Jean Veta, another ABA member who co-led the association’s review of Jackson, said she concluded “Jackson’s intellect is just terrific.”
“She has all the other important attributes of a great jurist,” Veta said. “She is practical and intuitive and curious and courteous and always impeccably prepared.”
Veta said that when asked about the allegation that Jackson is soft on the crime, “a senior attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office replied, ‘I vehemently disagree.’ .”
“Another prosecutor, who appeared several times before Judge Jackson, responded by saying that such an allegation was ‘completely unsubstantiated based on my experience with her,'” Veta said. “Instead, prosecutors, like other attorneys we interviewed, praised Judge Jackson as a judge who considers all arguments before making a decision.”
