By Lindsay Whitehurst
Contributing Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said May 18 that the U.S. Supreme Court risks being seen as political in the wake of a major voting rights decision.
She spoke after writing a solo dissent from the court’s recent decision allowing Louisiana to move quickly to use new maps after the court’s conservative majority struck down a majority-Black district and weakened the Voting Rights Act.
That decision ignited a flurry of partisan activity across the South as Republican lawmakers sought to redraw congressional maps in their favor, effectively diluting Black voting strength across a huge swath of the nation.
“Public confidence is really all the judiciary has,” she said during a speech before the American Law Institute in Washington, D.C.
“Everyone believes the court system is outside the political sphere. I think that means it’s incumbent on us to do things, to act in ways, that shore up public confidence,” she said.
Polling has shown public trust in the Supreme Court at historic lows in recent years, and Chief Justice John Roberts has separately bemoaned a perception that the justices are “political actors,” calling it a misunderstanding.
Jackson has become a frequent dissenter on the Supreme Court, joining her liberal colleagues last month to oppose the 6-3 decision that hollowed out the Voting Rights Act and later writing for herself to protest an order allowing Louisiana to use new maps even though early primary voting had already begun.
She said the court had “spawned chaos” amid a fierce nationwide redistricting battle.
Louisiana to move quickly to use new maps after the court’s conservative majority struck down, calling her criticism “baseless” and saying accusations of partisanship aren’t justified. The alternative, they wrote, would have been to allow an election under a map they found to be unconstitutional.
Lindsay Whitehurst writes for the Associated Press. Wave staff contributed to this report.
