Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Wednesday that if she wins confirmation to the Supreme Court, she plans to recuse herself from an upcoming case involving race in admissions policies at Harvard University.
“That is my plan,” she told senators during her confirmation hearing.
Judge Jackson sits on Harvard’s Board of Overseers.
Supreme Court justices exercise their own discretion about when they have conflicts of interest and decide on their own whether to sit for a case or not.
The high court this year agreed to hear the case, Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, but the justices have not scheduled it for oral arguments.
The group suing Harvard says Asian students are being denied an equal chance at admission because of Harvard’s policies.
Harvard says its policy is legal under a 2003 Supreme Court precedent allowing colleges to use “diversity” as a factor in deciding whom to admit.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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