When Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked President Joe Biden's U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson about how religious she was, and if she could put aside her bias when hearing cases, it contrasted with how Democrats questioned Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020 about the same issue.
Graham asked Jackson what faith and how religious she was during Monday's confirmation hearing, a video on the TMZ site showed.
Jackson said she was a "non-denominational" protestant and added that the Constitution prohibits "a religious test" for those serving in a public office.
When Graham asked, "how important" her faith was to her she replied, "very important."
"But as you know, there is no religious test in the Constitution under Article 6," she said. "It's very important for one to set aside their personal views about things in the role of a judge."
Graham responded that "there will be none with me."
When he asked how often she attended church, she responded that she was "reluctant to talk about my faith in this way because I want to be mindful of the need for the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views."
Graham used the line of questioning to invoke a comment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., during the confirmation of Barrett to the federal appellate bench in 2017 when she said of Barrett, a practicing Roman Catholic, "The dogma lives loudly within you. And that's a concern."
Democrats constantly questioned Barrett because of the Catholic Church's doctrine opposing abortion, and fears that she would seek to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal throughout the country.
Feinstein dismissed criticisms at the time of being "anti-Catholic," and unconstitutional, saying that she attended Catholic schools and had Catholic friends, insisting that Barrett's previous writings were informed by her faith and an obstacle to her serving on the federal bench, USA Today reported at the time.
Other Democratic senators, including Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also pressed Barrett on her religious views during her Supreme Court confirmation in October 2020.
Graham used the contrast to make his point.
"How would you feel if somebody on [the Republican] side said, You attend church too much for me, or Your faith is a little bit different to me, and they would suggest that would affect your decision," he said. "Would you find that offensive? I would if I were you. I found it offensive when they asked Judge Barrett."
He said that he had "zero doubt" that she could adjudicate cases, even for those with different religious beliefs.
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