Supreme Court Justice Fears for Our Democracy

Amid the recent victories for the Trump Administration at the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson voiced concerns about the “state of our democracy” at yesterday’s Forbes Indianapolis Bar Association event. She continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons.

For instance, regarding the 6-3 decision authored by Justice Barrett that stopped rogue district judges from blocking the Trump Administration’s agenda, Justice Jackson wrote a hyperbolic dissent: “Perhaps the degradation of our rule-of-law regime would happen anyway. But this Court’s complicity in the creation of a culture of disdain for lower courts, their rulings, and the law (as they interpret it) will surely hasten the downfall of our governing institutions, enabling our collective demise.” In other words, the country will collapse.

Justice Barrett strongly rebuked Justice Jackson’s dissent: “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. We observe only this: Justice Jackson decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.” Not the best way to have your name in the news after a Supreme Court decision.

Not just the conservative members of the High Court are frustrated with Justice Jackson’s antics. Justice Sonia Sotomayor also dissented with Justice Jackson in a 8-1 decision regarding the Trump Administration’s right to shrink the federal workforce: “I agree with Justice Jackson that the President cannot restructure federal agencies in a manner inconsistent with congressional mandates. . . . Here, however, the relevant Executive Order directs agencies to plan reorganizations and reductions in force ‘consistent with applicable law.’” Essentially, she critiqued Justice Jackson’s refusal to even look at the basic materials of the case.

Justice Jackson also made headlines by announcing, “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.” So she’s unabashedly unafraid to tell you her personal feelings about the law.

Here’s the issue: It’s not the job of Supreme Court Justices to tell us their personal feelings about whether a law is good or bad. Rather, their job is to tell America whether a law is legal and follows the Constitution. For example, is the Executive Branch carrying out a law duly enacted by Congress correctly?

My brother, ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow, made the analogy of a baseball umpire. He explained that it’s a Justice’s job simply to call balls and strikes. They aren’t to determine if a new pitcher should go in, when the batter should swing, or if a manager had a good strategy going into the game. If the far Left starts to embrace Justice Brown’s tactics, then we will see judicial activism on steroids.

It’s not the Judicial branch’s job to tell the government how to run. Rather, that’s the job of elected politicians (i.e., the Legislative branch) to raise issues of public policy. Ultimately, such issues become bills passed by Congress that are signed into law by the U.S. President (the Executive branch).

Justice Jackson needs to stay in her lane of the separation of powers. Jordan pointed out that what should actually keep Justice Jackson up at night: “It’s these lower court decisions that are making people lose faith in the judiciary. Because it’s like how many times [does] the Supreme Court need to say you can’t issue nationwide injunctions?” The rogue activist judges are the biggest threat to our democracy, not the latest Supreme Court rulings.

The ACLJ has been on the front lines fighting against the lower courts issuing nationwide injunctions to halt the Trump Administration’s agenda. We’ve already filed eight briefs in five federal courts against the outrageous lawsuits being leveled at President Trump – and we’re preparing to file our ninth in just days.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson continuing to overstep the bounds of her role as a Supreme Court Justice. We also provided an update on the ACLJ’s ongoing fight to defund and defeat Planned Parenthood.

Watch the full broadcast below: