(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kentanji Brown Jackson Is Hope [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-05 A week ago, shortly after the Supreme Court voted to maintain status quo voting rights for black Americans in Alabama, followed by their jettisoning of the Independent State Legislature appeal, a policy that would have led to the evisceration of voting rights for black Americans, I evinced a hope for a new iteration of the “formerly” extremist Supreme Court majority. Pressure from an incensed American public must have somehow infiltrated the hard exterior, forcing the members of the Sinister Six conservatives to at least entertain a more moderate and nuanced interpretation of the Constitution and the law, taking into account the myriad of ways in which America has changed since its initial founding in the late eighteenth century. If the Sinister Six were to apply a more mindful and modern ruling on affirmative action and free speech, convincing Americans of their commitment to valuing black, brown, and LGBTQ+ Americans, I would have been presently surprised before being propelled forward to espouse a nuanced view of the Supreme Court in a written article. The Redemption of the Sinister Six Supreme Court Justices is how I would have titled the piece, the writing a reflection of my new admiration of the growth of the conservative justices, all members of the secretive and fundamentalist Federalist Society. Unfortunately, the six conservative members of the Supreme Court chose to rule against affirmative action, while also affirming discrimination against gay couples. Chief Justice John Roberts, a frequent and staunch critic of laws and policies designed to improve the life of ethnic minorities, wrote the opinion striking down affirmative action. Exhibiting his trademark obtuseness, Chief Justice Roberts cited the fourteenth amendment, ratified in 1868 to amend the injustices performed against people of color, specifically black people, to take away a program designed to equal the playing field for traditionally disadvantaged members of our society. Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, hailing from my home state of Colorado, cynically employed the use of the first amendment to allow a Colorado-based website designer to discriminate against gay couples. In an attempt to make his decision more palatable to the extended masses, Gorsuch employed the use of various analogies, but he did not fool me. His opinion was joined by the other five serving members of the Sinister Six. Conservative Supreme Court Justices are twisting and perverting the Constitution to bring about extremely adverse outcomes for traditionally marginalized people, encrusting white supremacy over vast swaths of this country. The Supreme Court ended its term on June 30, 2023, and in the aftermath, I considered publishing a new article trashing each member of the Sinister Six conservative majority, comparing each of them to the cast of cartoonish villains in various Amazing Spiderman Comics. However, after completing a more intensive study of Roberts’s decision, my momentum was arrested by a very important section. Within this space, Roberts suggested an apparent exception to his onerous ruling: “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,” Roberts wrote. “Universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today. But schools can give students credit for showing courage and determination for overcoming racial discrimination, or their unique ability to contribute to the university.” As I read Roberts’s description of the court’s loophole, I thought of Kentanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court and the preserver of dreams for millions of black and brown American kids. I refer to her as savior because of her work on Students for Fair Admissions Inc., vs University of North Carolina, one of two affirmative action cases brought before the Supreme Court. During oral arguments, Associate Justice Jackson proffered an interesting and trenchant hypothetical concerning two applicants, one black and one white, for the plaintiffs, one that none of the conservatives justices could have conceived until that particular day: The first applicant says: I’m from North Carolina. My family has been in this area for generations, since before the Civil War, and I would like you to know that I will be the fifth generation to graduate from the University of North Carolina. I now have that opportunity to do that, and given my family background, it’s important to me that I get to attend this university. I want to honor my family’s legacy by going to this school. The second applicant says, I’m from North Carolina, my family’s been in this area for generations, since before the Civil War, but they were slaves and never had a chance to attend this venerable institution. As an African American, I now have that opportunity, and given my family — family background, it’s important to me to attend this university. I want to honor my family legacy by going to this school. In the end, Jackson’s hypothetical would not ultimately sway the conservatives to preserve affirmative action in its current form, but I believe that it did pierce the conscience of Chief Justice Roberts, propelling him to include the exception in his argument. Robert’s concession will spur colleges into action, as they seek new ways to create opportunities for our society’s traditionally disadvantaged members. There would be no exception if Kentanji Brown Jackson had not been nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court last year. As the Supreme Court read concurrences and dissents for Students for Fair Admissions Inc., vs University of North Carolina, Justice Clarence Thomas, the second black Supreme Court Justice, staunch member of the conservative wing, and beneficiary of affirmative action policies, attacked Kentanji Brown Jackson’s stance on the case: “As she sees things, we are all inexorably trapped in a fundamentally racist society, with the original sin of slavery and the historical subjugation of black Americans still determining our lives today,” Thomas wrote. “Worse still, Justice Jackson uses her broad observations about statistical relationships between race and select measures of health, wealth, and well-being to label all blacks as victims.” Justice Jackson offered a scorching rebuttal to Clarence Thomas, pulling apart his facile argument: “Justice Thomas ignites too many more straw men to list, or fully extinguish, here. The takeaway is that those who demand that no one thinks about race (a classic pink-elephant paradox) refuse to see, much less solve for, the elephant in the room — the race-linked disparities that continue to impede the achievement of our great Nation’s full potential.” In his concurrence, Justice Thomas also put forward his hope for the nation going forward: “While I am painfully aware of the social and economic ravages which have befallen my race and all who suffer discrimination, I hold out enduring hope that this country will live up to its principles so clearly enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States: that all men are created equal, are equal citizens, and must be treated equally before the law.” Thomas, the longest-serving court member, considers himself a deep thinker. However, he continually offers arguments that are blandly aspirational, trite, and lacking nuance. As a teacher, I could have taught one of my fifth-grade students to put together an argument on par with Clarence Thomas. In comparing Thomas’s sophomoric written work to the penetrating work being put forward by Justice Jackson, it is clear that Justice Jackson is the real critical thinker on the court. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissents will be required reading for millions in the future. Kentanji Brown Jackson is credited with writing the opinion that saved Medicaid this term. Moreover, she has concurred with the conservatives on several opinions, burnishing her credentials as an unbiased arbiter of the law. She is only fifty-two years old, with at least twenty years remaining to influence jurisprudence for the better in this country. Also, she will remain a role model, inspiring millions of the traditionally underprivileged to strive for a more pertinent life. Yes, her import will be unfathomable, rendering conservatives like Justice Clarence Thomas, a byproduct of a Republican racial quota, to the ashbin of history. Kentanji Brown Jackson will forever be a paragon of hope. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/5/2179331/-Kentanji-Brown-Jackson-Is-Hope Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/