Does Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson know what the role of a judge is? It’s a question worth asking given her recent comments at this year’s Global Black Economic Forum.
Speaking with ABC News hack Linsey Davis in a wide-ranging interview on Saturday, the junior justice spoke to attendees about her 2024 memoir and experiences while serving on the nation’s highest court. The most head-turning part of the Biden appointee’s remarks, however, came during her response to a question from Davis on if she is concerned about “the current state of American democracy” — a not-so-subtle dig at sitting President Donald Trump.
Jackson said she’s “heartened that people are focused on the court and the work that we’re doing on the state of the government.” She further expressed support for the American people “leading in terms of the policies and the way in which our government operates” — a statement seemingly at odds with judicial supremacist views she espoused in her unhinged Trump v. CASA dissent last month.
Jackson then turned to the writing of SCOTUS opinions, saying that she feels she’s “been privileged to … use the writings that [she does], the work that [she does], to explain [her] views about the way our government does and should work; the way the court does and should work.” It is through this process, the Biden appointee noted, that she is able to tell the American people how she “feel[s]” about any given case and its outcome.
“I think the nice part about being on the court is you have the opportunity, whether you’re in the majority or in the dissent, to express your opinions,” Jackson said. “I just feel that I have a wonderful opportunity to tell people, in my opinions, how I feel about the issues. And that’s what I try to do.”
That answer clearly didn’t satisfy Davis’ desire for a more partisan response. The ABC anchor again probed the justice if she “is concerned about the state of democracy today.”
“My feelings about the state of democracy have been expressed in the context of my opinions when issues come up related to democracy,” Jackson replied. “So, it’s hard to say, you know, am I concerned in a general way? The concerns that I have I have articulated in my opinions.”
Contrary to Jackson’s remarks, it’s not the job of any judge to tell people how he or she “feels” about specific issues in the cases before the court. Rather, it’s to assess the facts of the case and deliver an opinion that is based upon those facts and what the Constitution and law call for.
For a judge to inject his or her “feelings” into the matter is a gross abdication of proper jurisprudence and an insult to the intended role of the judicial branch.
Then again, those basic responsibilities have never seemed to matter to Jackson, who has regularly cast aside any semblance of being an impartial jurist. Since being tapped for her current post (purely based on identity politics), the junior justice has repeatedly gone out of her way to advance leftist orthodoxy from the bench.
[READ: Ketanji Brown Jackson Was Appointed To Be A Political Activist, Not A Judge]
Her routinely unprofessional political activism has seemingly evoked irritation from some of her colleagues.
While writing for the majority in Trump v. CASA on the issue of nationwide injunctions, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett took a proverbial flamethrower to the Biden appointee’s “girl boss” dissent — which Barrett characterized as being “at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself.” Even Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has expressed some frustrations with Jackson, gently critiquing her fellow leftist for seemingly not understanding a matter before the high court on Tuesday.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
