Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has urged Americans to defend the independence of the judiciary following recent threats from President Donald Trump.
Jackson gave a speech to students at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Texas on Tuesday (May 12), to discuss the importance of an autonomous and independent court system, according to Newsweek.
“Equal justice under law is a key tenet to freedom in our society, and in order to have that, you have to have an independent judiciary—one that is not beholden to the political branches or beholden to people,” she said.
Her remarks come in the wake of both record-low confidence in the Supreme Court and recent attacks by President Donald Trump over rulings that have struck down many of his policies, most recently his tariffs.
The latest NBC News poll, conducted in March, found that only 22% of registered voters nationwide had a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the Supreme Court, with as much 38% saying they had “very little” or “no” confidence at all.
Justices have also received a mix of political and even physical threats in recent years. Last year, 26-year-old Sophie Roske pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh after infiltrating his home in 2022, per Newsweek.
On Monday (May 12), Trump took to Truth Social to call out Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, both of whom he appointed. In a 6-3 ruling in February, both justices joined others in confirming that Trump had no authority to impose tariffs and forcing the president to find another legal pathway, according to National News Desk.
“I’m working so hard to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and then people that I appointed have shown so little respect to our Country, and its people. What is the reason for this?” Trump wrote. “They have to do the right thing, but it’s really OK for them to be loyal to the person that appointed them to ‘almost’ the highest position in the land, that is, a Justice of the United States Supreme Court.”
The court has also ruled in favor of policies supported by Trump, such as the recent redistricting vote in Louisiana, which weakened provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing Republican states to redraw districts to favor the party before the midterms, as Trump instructed last year.
While Jackson was among the justices who wrote sharp dissents to the ruling, she maintained to the SMU crowd that she and her fellow justices are very good at compartmentalizing,” and remain collegial despite what their opinions on major rulings may suggest.
“I just wish that people really focused on that and, therefore, stood up in some ways for the judiciary, when people—judges are being attacked and undermined, that is really an attack on our society,” Jackson said.
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