- Joined
- Jun 18, 2018
- Messages
- 82,835
- Reaction score
- 88,059
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Progressive
"On her second day of arguments, she set out a sort of mission statement, asking a long series of questions about the history of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War and meant to protect formerly enslaved Black people. “That’s not a race-neutral or race-blind idea,” she said. In focusing on the original meaning of the amendment, she adapted a conservative method to press for a liberal result. When the court issued its 5-to-4 decision in the case, on voting rights in Alabama, she was on the winning side.
...she had been the subject of a long and harsh passage spanning more than six pages in a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas... In a footnote in her dissenting opinion, Justice Jackson dismissed the critique. “Justice Thomas’s prolonged attack responds to a dissent I did not write,” she said, adding that his opinion “also demonstrates an obsession with race consciousness that far outstrips my or U.N.C.’s holistic understanding that race can be a factor that affects applicants’ unique life experiences.”
When the decision in the (affirmative action) case was issued eight months later, Justice Jackson was on the losing side. But Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion contained a caveat: “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise.” Professor Murray said that was a grudging response to Justice Jackson. “I don’t think John Roberts would have included that paragraph were it not for her incisive hypothetical,” she said.
In all, said Roman Martinez, a Supreme Court specialist at Latham & Watkins, “Justice Jackson had an impressive year on the court.” Justice Jackson is 52, and she will probably serve for several decades. The composition and direction of the court will doubtless change. For now and for the most part, Professor Murray said, “she’s writing for the public and for a future where she may not always be in the dissent.”"
Link
She is a welcome addition and a badly needed voice speaking for African-American rights, on the Court.
...she had been the subject of a long and harsh passage spanning more than six pages in a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas... In a footnote in her dissenting opinion, Justice Jackson dismissed the critique. “Justice Thomas’s prolonged attack responds to a dissent I did not write,” she said, adding that his opinion “also demonstrates an obsession with race consciousness that far outstrips my or U.N.C.’s holistic understanding that race can be a factor that affects applicants’ unique life experiences.”
When the decision in the (affirmative action) case was issued eight months later, Justice Jackson was on the losing side. But Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion contained a caveat: “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise.” Professor Murray said that was a grudging response to Justice Jackson. “I don’t think John Roberts would have included that paragraph were it not for her incisive hypothetical,” she said.
In all, said Roman Martinez, a Supreme Court specialist at Latham & Watkins, “Justice Jackson had an impressive year on the court.” Justice Jackson is 52, and she will probably serve for several decades. The composition and direction of the court will doubtless change. For now and for the most part, Professor Murray said, “she’s writing for the public and for a future where she may not always be in the dissent.”"
Link
She is a welcome addition and a badly needed voice speaking for African-American rights, on the Court.
