The hypocrisy behind the GOP's "soft-on-crime" attacks on KBJ

A slew of headlines coming out of the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson centered on a familiar Republican line of attack: that the historic Supreme Court nominee was somehow “soft-on-crime.” It’s the latest extension of a narrative pushed by the GOP to place blame for elevated crime rates squarely on the shoulders of Judge Jackson and the entire Democratic Party. But a review of the data shows the label of “soft-on-crime" is more appropriate for the Republican attackers than either Judge Jackson or Democrats on the committee.

Judge Jackson received unprecedented endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, who wrote that the Biden nominee has “a deep understanding of, and appreciation for, the challenges and complexities confronting the policing profession.” Both organizations assessed she has the temperament and background to earn the appointment. Hardly a picture of someone “soft-on-crime.”

Now let’s look at the Republicans on the panel. In 2020, the murder rate in the 10 states with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee was 35% higher than the murder rate in the 10 states with Democrats on the Committee. It seems Republicans do a far better job of talking about stopping crime—or blaming others—than actually stopping crime.

In 2020, Senator John Kennedy’s Louisiana had the 2nd highest murder rate in the country. Senator Josh Hawley’s Missouri ranked 5th. Senator Lindsay Graham’s South Carolina ranked 6th. Senators Marsha Blackburn’s Tennessee and Tom Cotton’s Arkansas each had murder rates more than twice that of Connecticut and New Jersey and more than three times that of Vermont, Rhode Island, Minnesota and Hawaii – all states with Democratic members on the Judiciary Committee.

In total, there were 6,128 murders among a population of 73,645,862 in the 10 red states represented by Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. That comes to a murder rate of 8.32 per 100,000 in population for 2020.

In the 10 blue states represented by Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee there were 5,301 murders in 2020 in a population of 86,067,878. That comes to a murder rate of 6.16 per 100,000 in population.

While these numbers may be shocking for those who watch the political debate about crime, they should not be surprising. There is a wide gap between the reporting of crime in the news media and where elevated crime rates actually occur. For example, in our recent report, The Red State Murder Problem, we found that in 2020, the murder rate in Trump-won states was 40% higher than Biden-won states. Eight of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 not only voted for Trump, but voted Republican in every presidential election this century. And that some of the places where the murder rates were highest were in Republican-run cities, led by Republican governors in Trump voting states.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson endured this battery of false attacks and mischaracterizations about her record with remarkable grace and strength. But as this confirmation moves forward, Democrats and the press should ask the question that the nominee can’t: why are Republicans given a pass for their red state murder problem?