A day after declining to define the word woman, Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wouldn’t say whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) could have standing to sue as a woman.
“Yesterday, under questioning from Sen. [Marsha] Blackburn, you told her that you couldn’t define what a woman is—that you are not a biologist, which I think you’re the only Supreme Court nominee in history who has been unable to answer the question ‘what is a woman,’” Cruz said.
“Let me ask you, as a judge, how would you determine if a plaintiff had Article III standing to challenge a gender-based rule, regulation, policy without being able to determine what a woman was?” he asked.
“Senator, I know I am a woman and Sen. Blackburn is a woman and the woman I admire most in the world is in the room today, my mother,” Jackson responded.
“Under the modern, leftist sensibilities, if I decide right now that I am a woman, then, apparently, I am a woman. Does that mean I would have Article III standing to challenge a gender-based restriction?” Cruz wondered.
Jackson, tapped by President Joe Biden for the nation’s top court, wouldn’t say.
“To the extent you are asking me about who has the ability to bring lawsuits based on gender, those kinds of issues are working their way through the courts and I am not able to comment on them,” she said.
Cruz continued by speculating on whether he could claim to be a different race and bring a case based on that race.
“If I can change my gender and be a woman and an hour later if I decide I am not a woman anymore, I guess I would lose Article III standing,” Cruz said. “Does that same principle apply to other protected characteristics? For example, I’m a Hispanic man. Could I decide I was an Asian man? Would I have the ability to be an Asian man and challenge Harvard’s discrimination because I made that decision?”
The Supreme Court has accepted a case brought on behalf of students who allege they were rejected by Harvard University due to being Asian.
Jackson declined to say whether Cruz could identify as another race for legal purposes.
“I am not able to answer your question. You are asking me about hypotheticals,” she said.
“If I can change my gender and be a woman and an hour later if I decide I am not a woman anymore, I guess I would lose Article III standing,” Cruz said. “Does that same principle apply to other protected characteristics? For example, I’m a Hispanic man. Could I decide I was an Asian man? Would I have the ability to be an Asian man and challenge Harvard’s discrimination because I made that decision?”
