WASHINGTON • Republicans on Wednesday pressed their attacks on a range of issues against Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s nominee to become the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, as she inched closer to the end of an intense two days of questioning with Democrats coming to her defense.

Jackson, who had remained even-tempered throughout marathon questioning during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, showed impatience over repeated questions posed by Republicans who accused her of being too lenient as a judge in sentencing child pornography offenders.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley again pressed her on one child pornography case involving an 18-year-old defendant in which Jackson imposed a three-month sentence.

He asked her if she regretted the sentence.

“Senator, what I regret is that during a hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court we’ve spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences,” Jackson responded.

Democrats and sentencing experts have said Jackson’s approach to child pornography sentencing was similar to the vast majority of federal judges.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who repeatedly interrupted Jackson as she was trying to answer his questions, told her that “every judge who does what you’re doing is making it easier for these children to be exploited.”

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Alex Brandon