Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson – the newest justice to the bench – spoke more than any other justice on the high court during arguments for the current term.
She spoke more than 78,800 words, which is also the most for a first-term justice during arguments since 1990, according to Adam Feldman, Supreme Court scholar and creator of the EmpiricalSCOTUS blog.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor came in second and Justice Elena Kagan came in third for the most words spoken during arguments, making the three Democratic-appointed justices the most vocal on the court.
“There is the liberal justices argument … where they pretty much know they will be on the losing side of any ideologically laden case so at least they can air out their positions at oral argument,” Mr. Feldman said.
Strategically, he said the liberal justices may speak more during arguments to prevent other justices from asking questions, debunk their points, solidify a position, test policy implications or gain more information about a case.
In terms of Justice Jackson, he said her experience as a district court judge – where she was the only judge overseeing a case – likely led to her being so vocal.
Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, also said Justice Jackson’s lower court experience of not having to share the bench could explain the scope of her questioning. But still, he said, it is surprising for a first-term justice to be the one speaking the most during oral arguments, even more than Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who also moderates the hearings.
“It’s surprising for a rookie justice to speak a lot, let alone more than anyone else. Justice Jackson clearly came out of the gate loaded for bear, to mix metaphors. She speechifies at times, but it’s clear that she’s done the work to ask about the minutiae of various cases,” he said.
Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, said when Justice Sotomayor took to the bench during her first term she came off brash – interrupting the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – but she later backed off a bit.
“Maybe Jackson will also sort of find her place among the other justices with respect to timing,” he said. “There might be value in spreading that time around.”
In terms of the conservative wing, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch spoke the most, followed by Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Amy Coney Barrett, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, according to Mr. Feldman’s count.
Since Justice Jackson’s first week on the bench, she was the most vocal, giving court watchers a preview of what was to come in the next several months.
The high court’s newest member spoke more than any other justice during the first week of the 2022 term 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 Kavanaugh, didn’t shy away from quizzing the attorneys and even jumped in during questioning by more senior justices – revealing she isn’t afraid to interrupt at times.
Retired Justice Stephen G. Breyer, whom Justice Jackson replaced, was similarly known to be vocal, asking long-winded, hypothetical questions reminiscent of a law school professor’s quizzes meant to challenge and confound his students.
Justice Jackson’s confirmation in April 2022 gave President Biden a rare major legislative win, delivering on a promise he made in the 2020 presidential campaign to install a Black woman on the high court.
Judge Jackson, a Harvard Law School graduate who once clerked for Justice Breyer, sat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for a few months before her nomination. Prior to that, she spent eight years as a district judge in Washington, where she came to the attention of liberal activists with her rulings against former President Donald Trump on a variety of issues, including executive privilege and immigration.
It’s unclear where exactly she’ll fall ideologically on the court, though scholars say they will know if she’s to the right or left of Justice Sotomayor by the end of the term as more rulings are issued.
• Stephen Dinan contributed to this report.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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