A Philadelphia judge scorned by law-enforcement officials and conservative senators remains hopeful that the Senate ultimately will confirm her to the federal bench.
Frederica Massiah-Jackson disputed characterizations that she is lenient toward criminals and insensitive toward crime victims, and she said she believed that "truth will win in this battle.""This has been a very difficult time for me and for my family," Massiah-Jackson said Wednesday during a rare second hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I hope that my appearance here today will change the unfair and untrue picture that others have painted of me."
Massiah-Jackson's nomination as the first black woman to sit on the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia has attracted national attention as conservatives used it to underscore the need for more scrutiny of President Clinton's judicial picks.
Critics accuse her of being soft on crime and say she lacks judicial temperament because she twice used profanity from the bench.
Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, who stirred up much of the Senate opposition, said she remained opposed, saying the judge's record is replete with evidence of biases against law enforcement.
Her chief supporter in the Senate, Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said Massiah-Jackson established a strong case through her testimony.
But he warned that too many undecided senators might take the less-risky option of rejecting someone based on "surface allegations" without putting them in the context of the judge's entire record.
The Judiciary Committee cleared her nomination last fall, but Abraham then released a 250-page critique citing 49 cases in which Massiah-Jackson allegedly displayed biases against law enforcement.
Senators gave her a second committee hearing to respond. But as late as Tuesday evening, more information trickled in from Abraham's office regarding some rape and assault cases.