Clarence Thomas criticizes Ketanji Brown Jackson: ‘Jackson’s race-focused perspective fails repeatedly’

Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Criticizes Colleague Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

In a recent ruling that prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s race during the admissions process, Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took aim at his fellow justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, mentioning her 18 times in his opinion.

The court’s decision found that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment with their affirmative action practices.

This landmark ruling has the potential to level the playing field for college applicants and restore admissions to a meritocracy.

In the case of the University of North Carolina, the court voted 6-3 to strike down the admissions practice, with the three liberal justices dissenting.

Justice Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case due to her previous position on the school’s board of overseers.

According to ABC News, the court voted 6-2 in the Harvard case.

However, amidst the court’s decision to end the consideration of race in college admissions, the two black judges on the Supreme Court engaged in a heated exchange.

Politico reported that in his opinion, Thomas mentioned Jackson 18 times in just seven pages.

In response to Jackson’s dissenting argument, Thomas wrote, “As she sees things, we are all inexorably trapped in a fundamentally racist society, with the original sin of slavery and the historical subjugation of black Americans still determining our lives today.”

Thomas continued, “The panacea, she counsels, is to unquestioningly accede to the view of elite experts and reallocate society’s riches by racial means as necessary to ‘level the playing field,’ all as judged by racial metrics. I strongly disagree.”

But Thomas didn’t stop there. He expressed his annoyance by stating, “Justice Jackson uses her broad observations about statistical relationships between race and select measures of health, wealth, and well-being to label all blacks as victims. Her desire to do so is unfathomable to me. I cannot deny the great accomplishments of black Americans, including those who succeeded despite long odds.”

Thomas accused Jackson of holding a “race-infused” view of the world, which he deemed short-sighted.

He emphasized, “Justice Jackson’s race-infused worldview falls flat at each step. Individuals are the sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. What matters is not the barriers they face, but how they choose to confront them. And their race is not to blame for everything — good or bad — that happens in their lives. A contrary, myopic worldview based on individuals’ skin color to the total exclusion of their personal choices is nothing short of racial determinism.”

Thomas also criticized his colleague for disregarding the plights of Asian and white students who often become victims of a race-based admissions process.

In response, Jackson fired back, stating, “The takeaway is that those who demand that no one think about race (a classic pink-elephant paradox) refuse to see, much less solve for, the elephant in the room — the race-linked disparities that continue to impede the achievement of our great Nation’s full potential.”

President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to the bench in February 2022 after former Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement.

Thomas has served on the court since 1991 and faced a contentious confirmation process when then-senator Biden attempted to derail his nomination by former President George H.W. Bush.

Source: The Western Journal