Look Out, Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson Came to Play

On October 3, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, took her seat on the nation’s highest court. It is charged with interpreting our Constitution and guarding our rights against the powerful who might choose monopoly or monarchy or both. She, this daughter of immigrants with an ancestry subjugated to slavery, does so at a time when most of the nation is fearful for the future of our democracy. From money in politics and the power it wields, to our divisions, to threats of violence in our elections, there are plenty of reasons for folks to be afraid. Can Jackson help pull our democracy, teetering precariously at the edge of a cliff of hate, fear, and division, back from the brink?

It is not all up to the Supreme Court of course—which is a good thing. The honest truth is that the Supreme Court is now as polarized as our nation. And just like the country, a group of ideologues, whose viewpoints are at odds with that of the majority of this nation’s, hold more sway than they should, causing some of the lowest confidence ratings in the court ever. The courts do not write laws or amend the Constitution, but interpreting both is powerful. There has been some important, albeit narrow, progress on legislation to protect the peaceful transition of power after a presidential election. The House passed reforms to the Electoral Count Act, to clarify what no president, who lost reelection, ever doubted before—that a sitting vice president cannot throw out electoral votes to steal the boss’s seat back. It appears to have the votes to pass the Senate, but the reforms, while important, do not respond to one of the central threats to our democracy: representation, particularly for voters of color.