Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson took the bench this week for her first Supreme Court oral arguments, making her presence known at the start of the court’s 2022 term.
The high court’s newest member spoke more than any other justice this week while hearing disputes over the Clean Water Act, voting rights and veteran disability payments.
Justice Jackson, seated in the farthest right chair on the bench next to Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, didn’t shy away from quizzing the attorneys and even jumped in during questioning by more senior justices.
“It indicates her comfort in arguments,” said Adam Feldman, founder of the Empirical SCOTUS blog. “Traditionally, justices are more reticent to speak a lot during their first set of arguments and generally defer to the more senior justices. The fact that she is cutting off any other justice at all goes to her comfort in that setting.”
Mr. Feldman said Justice Jackson spoke a total of 976 words during the first case argued on Monday.
“This is more engagement than we usually see from a justice at his or her first oral argument,” he said.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett spoke 499 words during her first case in 2020, according to a count by The Washington Times. Justice Jackson also outpaced Justices Kavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch, who spoke 351 and 755 words, respectively, during their first arguments.
Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said Justice Jackson gained most of her experience from eight years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where she was the only judge to hear a case. She spent just one year on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where she was a member of three-judge panels.
“She wasn’t on the D.C. Circuit very long, so most of her experience is on the district court, where of course the judge has to be active,” Mr. Shapiro said. “Most rookie justices do tend to sit back more initially, but [two] days of argument isn’t enough to make a definitive conclusion on Justice Jackson’s style.”
He said Justice Jackson could be emulating her predecessor and mentor, Justice Stephen G. Breyer, whom she replaced after he retired in June. Justice Jackson is a former clerk for Justice Breyer.
Justice Breyer was known for long-winded, hypothetical questions reminiscent of a law school professor’s quizzes meant to challenge and confound his students.
One of Justice Jackson’s questions took up three pages on the court’s transcript, something Mr. Feldman said he had never seen before.
Many court watchers say it is hard to tell where exactly Justice Jackson will rank in terms of ideology after one week of hearing arguments.
Justice Elena Kagan spoke the second most often this week after Justice Jackson, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor was third, according to Mr. Feldman’s calculations, suggesting the liberal wing has dominated oral arguments so far.
“I’d guess she is going to be the middle justice on the left. She has her background working in the Sentencing Commission, so that should lead her to be looking for equality in the sentencing context. Justice Sotomayor is probably going to occupy the far left,” Mr. Feldman said. “Kagan appears the most willing to still try to bridge the left/right divide on the court, and I expect her to continue to work with the chief [justice] on trying to find middle ground.”
The justices will return to the bench Tuesday to hear arguments over a California law that regulates how pork is sold.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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