Supreme Court’s Jackson Says She’s Ready for Election Challenges

The US Supreme Court must be prepared to wade into the contentious 2024 election if new challenges arise, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said.

The newest justice said she’s as “prepared as anyone can be,” in an interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS Evening News ahead of the release of her memoir, Lovely One.

The court has already fielded one emergency request tied to the election. The Supreme Court on Aug. 22 let Arizona partially enforce a state law that requires residents to prove US citizenship in order to register to vote.

The court, which is scheduled to kick off its newest term on Oct. 7, has a relatively light load for its early argument sittings. That means the justices are well positioned to handle any emergency litigation that makes it way to the court.

“I think there are legal issues that arise out of the political process,” Jackson said. “And so, the Supreme Court has to be prepared to respond—if—if that should be necessary.”

Several election related cases bubbled up to the court before and after the 2020 vote, including challenges to Covid safety measures that were put in place and allegations of election fraud.

In excepts of the interview, the liberal justice also spoke about her dissent from the court’s ruling granting President Donald Trump broad immunity for actions taken while in office.

Jackson said she was concerned “about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual under one set of circumstances. When we have a criminal justice system that had ordinarily treated everyone the same.”

The full interview is scheduled to air Sept. 1 on CBS News Sunday Morning.

It’s the first in a string of public appearances the justice is scheduled to make to promote her book, which outlines her path to the high court.

Nominated by President Joe Biden, Jackson is the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.