Dear Meteor readers!

Where were you? Where were you the moment Congress made history and confirmed the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States?

I was in my apartment in South Brooklyn, taking a break from my phone, the anxiety of the wait weighing on me. It is hard to quantify the joy and relief I felt to come back to the string of alerts sharing the historic news. With unanimous support from Democratic Senators and three Republicans: Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Mitt Romney—Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the Supreme Court.

As I wiped away tears, I logged on to witness the celebration. The joy was palpable.

Voting rights advocate and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams wrote, “Anchored by intellectual rigor, compassion, and fortitude, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson joins the U.S. Supreme Court and the annals of history. We are grateful for service that brought her here and the work yet to come. Congratulations, America!”

Professor and writer Dr. Brittney Cooper wrote, “My prayer for KBJ is that her term on SCOTUS will be marked not by limits or symbols but by impact. May she herald a new era on this court, that because of her faithfulness and fealty to what is right, good, lawful, new possibilities for justice for all will emerge. Amen.”

Perhaps most breathtaking was her real time reaction. If you’re not crying, are you made of stone?

The confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is cause for celebration—not only is she the first Black woman, but she is also the first public defender to be serving on SCOTUS and will bring a much-needed balance to the existing court. But there is reason for our optimism to be tempered—the court will still have a Republican supermajority.

So now we have questions. What will her nomination mean for the courts? How soon will she make her mark on upcoming cases? And what will her experience be as the only Black woman on the court—especially given how she was treated during the hearings?

For answers, we knew exactly who we wanted to talk to: Madiba K. Dennie—counsel for the Democracy Program at the incredible Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. She is a professor and a prolific writer who most recently wrote about how to hold justices accountable, reported out the misogynoir Jackson faced in the hearings, and considered the potential impact Jackson could have on the Supreme Court.

Check out our exclusive interview—and her expert insights—below.

See ya next week!

—Samhita Mukhopadhyay

SCOTUS 

The Case for Cautious Optimism

KBJ’s confirmation could have a ripple effect on the courts—here’s how

BY SAMHITA MUKHOPADHYAY

HOW WE SHOULD ALL BE SMILING THIS WEEKEND (PHOTO BY CHIP SOMODEVILLA VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Samhita Mukhopadhyay: How is the nomination and confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson significant to you personally and professionally?  

Madiba K. Dennie: I was surprised, honestly, by how much her nomination has meant to me. I know that a single person is not a quick fix to the deep systemic issues that plague our judiciary, specifically, and democracy more generally. But at the same time, Black women have been deliberately excluded from the halls of power for so long. And as a Black woman, a former public defender, and more, Judge Jackson will bring perspectives to the Court that have literally never been there before.

This demonstrably impacts—and improves—judicial decision-making. And yet, a narrow, homogenous group of wealthy white men has maintained a virtual monopoly on power for this country’s entire history. There’s no legitimate justification for this. Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination exemplifies the possibility of broadening the political community. So, I find both the ability to shape jurisprudence and also the declaration that we deserve to shape jurisprudence personally and professionally profound.

But will she have an impact? 

At the end of the day, the Supreme Court is still currently dominated by a radical conservative supermajority. It is possible, though, that Jackson’s judicial methodology, presence, and perspective could serve as a mitigating influence and rein in some of the Court’s more absurd behavior. Today’s dissenting opinions can also become tomorrow’s majority opinions. Judge Jackson’s addition to the bench may help chart a path to better future decisions by a better future Court. But she can’t fix it all by herself, nor should she have to. The rest of government should step up and implement substantive court reforms.

Will she play any role in the cases expected to be handed down this summer, like Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization or any other cases you might have your eye on? What could her confirmation mean for Roe v Wade?  

Justice Breyer has indicated that he intends his retirement to take effect when the Court goes on its summer recess, so I don’t suspect she’ll have a role in those cases. She’ll be too late for the decisions and just in time for the consequences. That does mean, though, that she can have a say in determining what those rulings actually mean and how those principles should be interpreted. The ‘undue burden’ standard used in abortion cases, for example, doesn’t appear at all in Roe v. Wade. That came in a later Supreme Court decision applying Roe v. Wade.

Similarly, the new ‘guideposts’ for determining certain Voting Rights Act violations don’t appear in any previous case interpreting the Voting Rights Act nor the text of the law itself. They’re just a murky standard Justice Alito invented one day last year. So there are two unknowns at this point: what the damage will be from this summer’s blockbuster cases and how next term’s cases will apply those rulings and either constrain or expand the harm.

What will her working experience be like as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court?

I’m a little bit nervous. My pride and hope about elevating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court has been somewhat tempered by my fear that we’re sending her into a hostile work environment. Judge Jackson was subjected to offensive treatment by Senators during her confirmation hearing, which should remove any lingering doubt as to whether excellence can protect you from misogyny and racism. And that was the public job interview with Congress. I don’t know what her private experience will be in chambers. But I know it’s not easy being “the only” under the best of circumstances, much less when you have to debate with your colleagues whether people who look like you should have rights, for example.

For now, I hope she and her support network continue to stay strong, but for the future, I hope Black women don’t have to be so strong. 

Is there anything readers can do to support her from afar? 

There are many organizations out there like the Leadership Conference that are excellent resources for action. I also always recommend that people tune into what’s happening at their local level. The overwhelming majority of cases don’t reach the Supreme Court, and it matters who is serving on state courts and lower federal courts too.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

While we were dancin’ round the kitchen in judge costumes celebrating the historic confirmation of a new Supreme Court justice, the Alabama State Legislature voted to ban gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. That is just one of the many setbacks we’ve seen to the rights of trans youth. In fact, there is a country-wide campaign to deny the right for trans youth to define themselves on their own terms, to live freely and in their authenticity.

In the face of such violent rhetoric and policy, you would think young people have lost hope. But you would be wrong. In this week’s UNDISTRACTED host Brittany Packnett Cunningham spoke with Willow Luna Edgerton, a 13-year old trans girl, and her father Owen, on starting a Gender and Sexuality Alliance club in her school in the face of anti-trans decrees and legislation in her home state of Texas.

“Trust me when I say your child will be a million times happier. If you support them, if you respect them as a person and help them out, they will,” Willow tells us. The kids are more than all right.

Bask in Willow’s light here.

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