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Ketanji Brown Jackson sharply criticized the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, warning that the justices are increasingly allowing major policy changes by Donald Trump to take effect through emergency rulings before lower courts have fully reviewed their legality.
Speaking during a public discussion with fellow Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Jackson said the court’s growing reliance on its emergency docket has become “a real, unfortunate problem.”
“This uptick in the court’s willingness to get involved with cases on the emergency docket is a real, unfortunate problem,” Jackson said. “I think it is not serving our court or our country well at this point.”
Court’s emergency docket draws scrutiny
The Supreme Court’s emergency docket — sometimes referred to by critics as the “shadow docket” — allows the justices to issue rapid rulings on urgent legal disputes, often without oral arguments or detailed written opinions.
In recent months, the court has allowed several Trump administration policies to temporarily take effect while litigation continues in lower courts. Those rulings have included:
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allowing a ban on transgender troops serving in the U.S. military
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permitting the removal of independent agency heads
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enabling efforts to dismantle parts of the U.S. Department of Education
The decisions have cleared procedural hurdles for key elements of Trump’s second-term agenda.
Rare public exchange between justices
Jackson’s remarks came during a public conversation with Kavanaugh at an annual legal lecture held in a ceremonial courtroom at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C..
The event offered a rare opportunity for two justices from opposite ideological wings of the court to discuss their views on the judiciary’s role in high-profile political disputes.
Kavanaugh defended the court’s approach, arguing that the justices have treated cases involving Trump and Joe Biden similarly.
“This is not a new phenomenon in the Trump administration,” Kavanaugh said, noting that the court also allowed several Biden administration policies to proceed while legal challenges were pending.
Disagreement over precedent
Jackson rejected that comparison, arguing that many emergency rulings involving Biden administration policies preserved the legal status quo rather than implementing new policies.
“What is happening now is the administration is making new policy, but then insisting that the new policy take effect immediately before a challenge about its lawfulness is determined,” Jackson said.
She suggested that the administration has increasingly relied on emergency appeals because it believes the court will grant them.
“The Supreme Court has shown a willingness to grant these emergency motions,” she said.
Surge in emergency appeals
Emergency cases typically move much faster than disputes on the court’s regular docket. They often involve shorter legal briefs and rarely include oral arguments.
Trump’s administration has won the vast majority of such requests since the start of his second term, prevailing in 25 emergency cases decided so far.
Those victories have drawn criticism from Democrats and from the court’s three liberal justices, who have argued that the conservative majority is allowing the administration to bypass the normal legal process.
Kavanaugh cites aggressive executive actions
Kavanaugh attributed the increase in emergency litigation to broader trends in American governance, saying presidents from both parties increasingly rely on executive actions when Congress is unable to pass legislation.
“There’s a more aggressive executive branch over the years because it’s difficult to get legislation through Congress,” he said.
Jackson says dissents speak to the public
Jackson said her frequent dissents in recent cases are intended to reach audiences beyond the court itself.
“When I am writing a dissent, I am speaking to the American people probably more so than anybody,” she said.
“The hope is that at some point in the future there will be enough people who are agreeing with the way I am viewing this particular issue.”
