The lineup of witnesses for Thursday’s hearing includes Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), a member of a group against child sex trafficking, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and three members of the American Bar Association.
The Senate Judiciary Committee released the list Wednesday. The hearing again begins at 9 a.m. Eastern time.
Beatty, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, has been an avid advocate of Jackson’s nomination and established a “war room” to defend her from attacks. Beatty has described Jackson as having “a grounded energy that I have seen in few other judicial nominees.” She was tapped by Senate Democrats to testify.
Senate Republicans called on Alessandra Serano, a member of the anti-child-sex-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad, to testify. Republicans have tried to attack Jackson by saying her sentencing record against child pornography offenders has been too lenient.
Operation Underground Railroad has been criticized for its practices and accused of inflating its success. Its supporters have also been criticized for promoting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory. In 2020, the Attorney’s Office in Davis County, Utah, said that the organization was under investigation regarding complaints that it had conducted illegal fundraising efforts by fabricating rescues that never took place.
The three members of the ABA who will testify Thursday sit on the association’s Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which last week gave Jackson its top ranking ahead of the nomination hearings.
Witnesses tapped by the Senate majority include Risa Goluboff, dean of the University of Virginia School of Law, and Capt. Frederick Thomas, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Along with Marshall, the Senate minority also tapped as witnesses Jennifer Mascott, a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, and Keisha Russell, an associate counsel at the First Freedom Institute, a conservative Christian legal organization.