A milestone for race, gender, and judicial independence

We’re excited today by the Senate’s confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

As the first Black woman to join the Court, Justice Jackson’s confirmation is a triumph for race, gender—and also much more.

A policy I proposed over a decade ago could remove long-serving Justices from the Supreme Court, making space for Justice Jackson’s vision to influence jurisprudence. Can you join us today to continue offering novel solutions to problems long before others see the need?

Judges are institutionally responsible for guarding constitutional rights, limiting the executive branch, and serving as a bulwark to defend people from power run amok. Seen through that lens, Justice Jackson’s confirmation is significant not only for her identity, but also her experience as a Public Defender.

Unlike her colleagues on the bench, she built her career standing up to the government, defending vulnerable people in a “justice” system whose continuing biases are notorious.

The co-optation of the Rehnquist and Roberts Court by veterans of the executive branch has had tragic consequences which Justice Jackson is uniquely poised to help address. Her experience positions her to lead a jurisprudential movement to revive judicial checks & balances on executive power abandoned by the Rehnquist & Roberts Court.

She could help enable the courts to do their jobs. Her confirmation is a victory for all Americans, as well as law and jurisprudence.

Having worked on federal judicial nominations since 2005, I’m better prepared than most Members of Congress to defend constitutional rights in Congress and hold the Article III courts accountable to political neutrality. Can you send me to Washington to champion checks and balances on executive authority, alongside judicial independence?

Will Justice Jackson be able to revive the constitutional separation of powers, or impose checks and balances, or enable a vision of law as a tool to defend people from arbitrary power run amok?

Not by herself. On a Court composed on nine Justices, six votes are held by reliable ideological reactionaries. And because Justices are appointed for life, the current balance of power could hold for a generation or more—unless something changes.

We’d like to support the chance for KBJ’s jurisprudence to influence the law. A proposal that I explained over a decade ago would do precisely that: ending judicial life tenure in order to force overdue turnover on the bench by imposing 18-year staggered terms on her predecessors.

The proposal has been endorsed more recently by figures including Andrew Yang and Ro Khanna. It offers a path to restore judicial independence.

We’re eager to bring it to Congress.

Can you help us continue developing novel ideas to shake loose generational stasis in Washington, break the logjams that limit our institutions, and serve the long overlooked needs of our communities? I’m eager to help, but need your support.

While so many challenges persist across our country, days like today give me hope.

I hope it offers you hope, as well!

Your voice,
Shahid

PS – If you’re in the Bay Area, join us tonight for a discussion about biased policing at the SF Public Library in Civic Center (at 100 Larkin) from 6:00-7:30pm! With your support, we hope to offer an opportunity to hold publicly accountable a wealthy officeholder who’ll be speaking on the panel despite an unfortunate pattern of orchestrating racist accusations as an election strategy. Text 415-761-3475 if you’re available to join us.