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Ketanji Brown Jackson Gets Standing Ovation For Slamming 'Relentless Attacks' On Judges
The newest member of the Supreme Court addressed what she described as the "elephant in the room" during a judicial conference in Puerto Rico.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Thursday slammed the “relentless attacks” judges across the country face, suggesting that such intimidation tactics mimic those used by authoritarian governments, according to multiple news reports.
In an appearance at the First Circuit Judicial Conference in Puerto Rico, Jackson proceeded to address what she described as the “elephant in the room,” without explicitly mentioning President Donald Trump’s name.
Jackson condemned the “relentless attacks and disregard” judges are confronted with daily, urging them to stand strong as she spoke out about the message that targeting judges sends.
“The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,” Jackson added, according to Politico. “The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy.”
Since his inauguration in January, Trump and his allies have adopted an openly hostile and combative attitude toward judges who have stood in the way of the government’s priorities. The president’s call for impeaching a judge who ruled against his administration’s deportation plans earned a rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts in March.
“For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said at the time in a rare statement. “The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Jackson warned that the fear these intimidation tactics are trying to instill in judges simply doing their jobs in maintaining the rule of law is reminiscent of how nondemocratic countries operate.
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“A society in which judges are routinely made to fear for their own safety or their own livelihood due to their decisions is one that has substantially departed from the norms of behavior that govern a democratic system,” Jackson said, according to The New York Times. “Attacks on judicial independence is how countries that are not free, not fair, and not rule of law oriented, operate.”
Jackson’s remarks reportedly were given a standing ovation from the audience, which included judges, lawyers and others.
Jackson, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden to replace Stephen Breyer following his retirement in 2022, made history when she became the first-ever Black woman and former public defender to serve on the Supreme Court. Jackson is also the newest member of the nation’s highest court.