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Ketanji Brown Jackson Has A Strong Start For Her First Term

I'd like to think that Breyer is cheering her on from the sidelines.

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Senate Holds Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings For Ketanji Brown Jackson

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Now that the Supreme Court is back in session, we have the honor of seeing Ketanji Brown Jackson’s first day on the job. Well, kind of — she’s been doing this judging thing for about a decade now, but you know what I mean. And all things considered, she’s off to such a strong start that some of her colleagues would do well to take her lead.

In addition to not setting herself up as a partisan hack, she is showing no hesitation when it comes to cold calling the lawyers actively trying to rot the fruit of the civil rights movement.

Justice Jackson also held no punches when it came to the nuances of environmental law.

Justice Jackson was the fourth justice to speak up to ask a question of Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation in the case Sackett v. EPA about whether the Clean Water Act covers wetlands that are not directly connected to surface waters. Schiff was arguing that the statute’s use of the word “adjacent” meant touching and not merely close in proximity.

“As far as I know, Congress used the term ‘adjacency’ and didn’t adjust it to try to make clear the touching requirement that you say was intended by the term,” she told Schiff.

Schiff replied that that argument had been previously “rejected” by the court, and cited a Supreme Court decision that characterized part of the statute relied upon by the EPA as “unenlightening as to the meaning of waters of the United States.”

To that, Justice Jackson responded: “All right. Well, let me try to bring some enlightenment to it by asking it this way.”

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Oof. Word to the wise, I’d be wary against trying to BS through your presentation. Ketanji stripped straight past the Clarence phase right into cross examination. More former public defenders on the Court, besides bringing more impartiality, may also make justice a bit more interesting.

Justice Jackson Brings Tough Questions To First Argument [Law360]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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