Peeking behind the dark clouds of political posturing around Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings are five important lessons in basic civics. These are not lessons that most people understand unless they have had access to the elite education that many members of the U.S. Senate possess, including at the nation’s top law schools. Without a working knowledge of these principles, viewers who are responsibly following the hearings can be easily misled by certain lines of questioning.
