What Kind of Justice Will Ketanji Brown Jackson Pursue?
No sooner had Ketanji Brown Jackson been confirmed as Supreme Court justice, than a debate began over whether it would make any difference in a court dominated by conservatives.
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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
No sooner had Ketanji Brown Jackson been confirmed as Supreme Court justice, than a debate began over whether it would make any difference in a court dominated by conservatives. As the first-ever African-American woman justice, she will make the court look a lot more like the nation it serves, but the new justice will do nothing to alter the basic dynamic on a court dominated by six Republican appointees, writes Adam Liptak in an analysis for the New York Times. The court’s lopsided conservative majority will remain in charge and Judge Jackson will most likely find herself in dissent in the court’s major cases on highly charged social questions.
Jackson is expected to follow in the path of departing Justice Stephen Breyer and join dissents from majority opinions on abortion, second amendment protections, and limits to the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority. But Justice Jackson’s impact will likely be seen in the long term, as the court’s membership changes over the next several decades, says Liptak, noting that four of the justices she will join are aged 67 or older. A future president’s nominations could make her an influential and consequential voice over the next decades. See also: The Supreme Court and the Criminal Justice System Need Ketanji Brown Jackson, The Crime Report by Derek Logue, April 7, 2022.
