In just her second full term on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is emerging as a distinctive voice among the liberal justices and across the entire bench.
Nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022 and the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, Jackson has consistently gone further than her colleagues in dissents, opinions, and oral arguments, prioritizing what she sees as the real-world impact of legal decisions and the defense of individual rights.
Her recent solo dissent in a case involving the Trump administration’s changes to birthright citizenship drew sharp rebuke from conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who criticized Jackson’s arguments as “at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent.” Yet Jackson’s bold stance resonated widely.
“With deep disillusionment, I dissent,” Jackson wrote, in what legal scholars now say may be the defining opinion of the term.
Unlike her liberal counterparts—Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan—Jackson has shown a greater willingness to confront conservative methodology directly, calling out what she described as the selective flexibility of “pure textualism” in controversial rulings. In a separate case on air pollution, Jackson wrote that the decision “gives fodder to the unfortunate perception that moneyed interests enjoy an easier road to relief in this Court than ordinary citizens.”
Justice Barrett, typically known for her cautious rhetorical style, clapped back in unusually direct language. “That goes for judges too,” she wrote, in a pointed retort to Jackson’s criticism of judicial restraint.
But Jackson’s influence isn’t limited to the written word. According to Empirical SCOTUS, she has spoken more than any other justice on the bench this term—50% more than Justice Sotomayor and far more than any first-term justice in modern history. Her volubility stems in part from her prior experience as a solo trial judge, where speaking and questioning were crucial tools.
“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,” said political scientist Adam Feldman. “She’s calling things as she sees them.”
While Sotomayor has often served as the emotional conscience of the Court and Kagan the strategic coalition-builder, Jackson appears to be carving a third path: direct public engagement. Legal commentators say her dissents are written not just for her colleagues but for the public and for history.
“I definitely do think Justice Jackson really prioritizes developing her own jurisprudence and thoughts and voice,” said Brian Burgess, a former clerk to Justice Sotomayor. “I can see her evolving into someone that wants to speak directly to the public.”
Justice Jackson’s chambers also reflect this unique trajectory. From a childhood shaped by public speaking lessons to her work ethic as a federal trial judge, she’s long been trained to “use her voice”—a calling she referenced at the Kennedy Center last year while promoting her memoir.
Her dissents consistently elevate questions of equality, institutional accountability, and access to justice. When conservative justices allowed Elon Musk’s government agency unprecedented access to millions of Americans’ Social Security data, Jackson warned that the Court was “departing from basic legal standards” and sending a “troubling message.”
Legal scholars are taking note. Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck said he plans to teach Jackson’s dissent in the air pollution case, praising her willingness to address the ideological mechanics of the Court head-on.
As the Court veers rightward, Jackson has become its most vocal progressive critic—not merely as a counterweight to conservative jurisprudence, but as a clarion voice advocating for what she believes the law should do, not just what it says.
“That’s probably the one [dissent] from the term that will last the longest,” Feldman said of Jackson’s solo opinion in the Trump case.
Whether history proves her right remains to be seen. But if longevity is measured by courage, clarity, and conviction, Justice Jackson may already be shaping the next era of legal thought in America.
