RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson forcefully condemned attacks by President Donald Trump and his allies on judges who have blocked Trump administration policies, warning Thursday that the increasingly hostile rhetoric poses a dire threat to the country’s political fabric.
“The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity,” Jackson told a judges’ conference in Puerto Rico. “The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government. And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law.”
Though she did not mention Trump by name, Jackson said she was addressing “the elephant in the room,” a clear reference to the belligerent language — and calls for impeachment — that Trump and some of his advisers have lobbed at federal judges who rule against his agenda.
Jackson urged her judicial colleagues to show “raw courage” to dispense justice without fear of the results. “I urge you to keep going, keep doing what is right for our country, and I do believe that history will vindicate your service,” the Biden appointee said.
Jackson’s unusually pointed comments received a standing ovation from the judges and lawyers in attendance. Her 18-minute fulmination is the strongest public statement by any member of the Supreme Court since the Trump administration began denouncing judges who have blocked Trump’s policies on immigration, firing government workers, and halting federal grants and contracts.
Numerous judges across the country, and across the ideological spectrum, have issued rulings blocking Trump policies. In some cases, the judges have declared the policies to be flagrant violations of the Constitution or settled law. And some high-profile rulings, including one earlier Thursday against Trump’s use of an 18th century law to conduct deportations, have come from judges Trump appointed during his first term.
Trump and his allies have shot back. Trump, for instance, called U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, whom many legal observers consider a centrist, to be a “Radical Left Lunatic,” and called for his impeachment after Boasberg ruled against Trump on deportations. The impeachment call triggered a mild but prompt brushback from Chief Justice John Roberts, who issued a statement saying impeachment is not the “appropriate response” to disagreements about court judgments.
Trump’s allies have only intensified their rhetoric since Roberts’ statement. Trump’s top domestic adviser, Stephen Miller, has railed against what he calls power-hungry and “Communist” judges putting the country at risk while upending the powers of the presidency. Trump ally Elon Musk has repeatedly amplified calls for judicial impeachments on X.
Before a scheduled on-stage discussion about her life, Jackson strode to the lectern and said she had decided to speak out against “the relentless attacks and disregard and disparagement that judges around the country and perhaps many of you are facing on a daily basis.”
“It seems as though every time I read the news or turn on the television these days, I see the affronts,” said Jackson, who is the high court’s newest member.
Jackson, who served as a district court judge for eight years before being promoted to an appeals court and then the Supreme Court, said the attacks are often most intense and difficult for individual district court judges, who serve as trial judges in the federal system.
“I do know that loneliness. It is very stressful to have to decide difficult cases in the spotlight and under pressure,” she said. “It can sometimes take raw courage to remain steadfast in doing what the law requires.”
Jackson pointed to similar attacks on judges who issued controversial decisions during the Civil Rights Movement and the Watergate scandal. She urged her colleagues to take inspiration from those examples.
“Other judges have faced challenges like the ones we face today, and have prevailed,” she said.
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