By Rhonda Robinson Taylor
October 11, 2029
NEW YORK, N.Y. — U.S. Chief Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson announced in a speech at Columbia Law School last night that the Supreme Court will undertake an “accountability project” to formally scrutinize the ways in which it undermined democracy in the former United States of America.
“As you know, I was there for part of the time. It was, to put it mildly, a little disconcerting,” said Jackson to polite laughter. “But the six years I spent on the Supreme Court prior to secession really caused me to think hard about the ways our legal institutions enabled the antidemocratic, anti-justice principles that took root in our society.”
Jackson said that the Supreme Court — which consists entirely of appointees of President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — has appointed longtime scholars and critics, including Prof. Steve Vladeck and Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Todd Eddins, to compile evidence and present findings about the Supreme Court’s role in destabilizing the rule of law.
She cited specific Supreme Court decisions, including those that gave former President Donald Trump immunity from criminal prosecution, permitted the dismantling of federal agencies and their workforces, and decimated Black representation in Congress in the now-New Confederacy.
“We remember those cases because they kind of precipitated the crisis before secession. But we need to take a look at the longer arc that got us here,” said Jackson. “Bush v. Gore is a data point. Korematsu and Dred Scott were data points. It is healthy and it is necessary for those of us privileged enough to work for this institution to invite hard scrutiny of its flaws.”
She added that members of truth and reconciliation commissions in Canada and South Africa would consult on the project.
Leave a Reply