Dear John,
As we await the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court — where she will make history as the first ever Black woman to sit on the nation’s highest court — we take a look at her hearings before the Judiciary Committee and what they tell us about the court’s future. On the latest episode of our “On the Issues” podcast, executive vice president of the American Constitution Society Zinelle October joined host Michele Goodwin in decrying the treatment Judge Jackson received from Republican senators who displayed a shocking lack of respect for both the future Justice and the rule of law in general.
“It was really disheartening to see, and quite scary, if I do say so myself,” October said. “And what we saw on display, Michele, is conservatives have made clear that Roe, Griswold, Obergefell, and even Loving [the case that legalized interracial marriage] are on the table.” October is right — with a repeal of Roe already likely in the pending Dobbs case, and a 6-3 conservative majority on the court, our hard-won civil rights are most definitely at risk in this moment.
Steve Vladeck, a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts, pointed out that in the face of spurious Republican attacks, Democratic senators — with a few notable exceptions — did not do a good job of standing up for their nominee: “There’s way too much, ‘Oh, well, this is just how the process is now,’ right? There’s way too much acceptance that this was actually appropriate behavior.”
Still, Judge Jackson will be confirmed by the Senate, and we look forward to celebrating this historic accomplishment.
On the global front, we continued to follow the plight of women and girls in Ukraine, who face elevated risks of gender-based violence — not to mention restricted access to vital sexual and reproductive health services. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that over the next three months, up to 80,000 Ukrainian women may give birth without access to safe maternal care.
This week we also reported on the Taliban’s renewed closure of girls’ schools above sixth grade, reversing the position announced just two days earlier. Teachers and students across the region are devastated. “I feel really hopeless for my future,” said one, speaking to the BBC. “All we want is to go to school.” The Taliban is also now blocking women from air travel without a male family member and have banned women from public parks in Kabul four days a week. According to Human Rights Watch, “These are the latest in a long string of broken promises and restrictions on the rights of women and girls that Taliban have imposed since taking control of Afghanistan last year.”
As we come to the end of Women’s History Month, we are reminded again and again, the fight goes on.
