Leave it to a Black woman to be bold enough to stand up to President Donald Trump. While it seems the rest of the conservative-leaning Supreme Court is dead set on championing Trump's agenda, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stands out as one of the few justices willing to call him out, which is putting a target on her back.
Suggested Reading
As arguably one of the most powerful Black women in the country right now, Jackson draws a stark contrast between herself and the other liberal justices on the bench. Despite her being the court's newest justice, Jackson isn't afraid to ruffle some feathers, which has folks thinking she might be the answer in the face of deportations, anti-DEI legislation and more.
Her most recent dissents-- or disagreement with a majority court opinion-- are clear examples of this. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the president in the Trump v. CASA case concerning birthright citizenship. Although the court didn't rule directly on the 14th Amendment, Jackson took some time to call out her colleagues to look at the history and impact of the 14th Amendment for free Black people in antebellum America.
She urged her fellow justices to evaluate the case not only based on technical language but more importantly, the impact on American lives. And to be expected, her conservative peers weren't happy about it. "We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself," Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote.
This wouldn't be the first time Jackson spoke out about questionable rulings. Since she put on that black robe, Jackson has been more outspoken than her peers. Since October, Jackson reportedly spoke 50 percent more than Justice Sotomayor, who was ranked second most talkative, according to statistics by Adam Feldman and Jake S. Truscott for the Empirical SCOTUS blog.
More interestingly, Jackson's clear stance draw stark contrast to the other Black justice on the bench, Clarence Thomas. Although Thomas is known for his colorful dissents over the past decades, even writing in an opinion that the court should "reexamine" a 150-year-old Civil Rights era statute, according to Newsweek.
Thomas often bases his dissents on an originalist view of the Constitution. Unlike Jackson, Thomas usually stresses the Constitution's original form, not how it is interpreted today. With this, the conservative justice has caught his fair share of backlash. With his alignment-- and his wife's alignment-- with Trump and MAGA, folks have often called for him to resign... not like he'll ever do it though.
Compared to Thomas, Jackson is a breath of fresh air. As one of the youngest members on the court, she often uses her platform to connect with all Americans. "She’s the only one that has ever done what she’s doing in terms of total volume of speech in her first few terms," Feldman of the Empirical SCOTUS blog continued.
Of course this is not the end of the Trump administration or the impact of all the flood of bills he's been signing in the Oval Office. But as long as Jackson has the American people covered, then we know there's at least one ally inside the count room.
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.