Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told a group at an Indianapolis Bar Association event on Thursday that “the state of our democracy” is what keeps her up at night, CNN reports.
Newsweek reached out to the High Court on Thursday for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Jackson, the most recent nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court and the first by former President Joe Biden, has faced some criticism, most recently following her lone dissent in the Supreme Court’s 8-1 ruling on a case involving executive power over federal workforce layoffs during President Donald Trump‘s administration and another ruling on birthright citizenship.
What To Know
At the event on Thursday, Jackson spoke about her book Lovely One: A Memoir, and afterward took questions, one asking what keeps her up at night.
“I would say the state of our democracy,” the justice responded, according to CNN. “I am really very interested in getting people to focus and to invest and to pay attention to what is happening in our country and in our government.”
Jackson did not mention Trump by name, CNN reports, but she has been outspoken against his administration in recent dissents.
“Instead of directing its attention and resources to fully litigating the merits of the challenge to its authority in the courts below, the Government rushed up the chain of review, seeking an emergency stay of the District Court’s preliminary injunction from us,” she argued in the federal workforce ruling this week.
Jackson was also asked by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson at the event if she has ever been bothered by a majority opinion’s response to a dissent, CNN reports.
“I have a very thick skin,” Jackson replied. “My parents gave to me a sense of my own ability to write and to speak out and to say what I have to say and to not be really offended by other people saying what they have to say. I actually don’t get my feelings hurt, what I do is I try to respond as effectively as I can in my writings.”
What People Are Saying
Former George W. Bush adviser Scott Jennings, on CNN Wednesday night, talking about Jackson: “Apparently [she] has a fundamental disagreement with the rest of the court about what the role of a Supreme Court justice is.”
“People from the ideological right and the ideological left on the court have had to put her in her place a couple of times here in this term. I would guess internally it’s causing internal issues at the Supreme Court.”
Ana Navarro, CNN senior political commentator, also on Wednesday: “And also listen, nobody puts baby in the corner, and nobody puts Ketanji in her place. She is a Supreme Court justice.”
She continued, “No, that’s not putting her in her place, that’s called disagreement, that’s called dissenting. It’s called a disagreement in the Supreme Court, which is perfectly OK. And if you’re expecting a melanated girl from South Florida to shut up and play nice and not ruffle feathers … you seem to have an issue with it,” she said in response to Jennings.
What Happens Next
The Supreme Court will enter its recess until its next term begins. Observers expect continued focus on the role of dissenting voices, especially Jackson’s, as the court addresses future cases involving executive authority, federal power and constitutional interpretation.
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