Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a sharp rebuke to Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday, accusing him of misinterpreting the 14th Amendment and echoing historical justifications for denying rights to Black Americans.
Jackson, in a concurring opinion, stated that Thomas and the other dissenters ignored the principle that the Constitution stands against caste and subjugation. She wrote that the Reconstruction Amendments were intended as a fundamental reset against these systems, not merely a remedy for the "dark stain of slavery."
Her comments came after the Court's 6-3 decision, in which Jackson voted with the majority, striking down Donald Trump's attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.
Thomas, in his dissenting opinion, argued that the 14th Amendment was designed to ensure citizenship was not race-based, referencing its role in overruling the Dred Scott decision. He contended that the amendment was not intended to grant automatic citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil.
Jackson countered Thomas's interpretation, noting his past advocacy for a "colorblind" Constitution. She stated that he was now surprisingly suggesting the Citizenship Clause was a race-conscious measure specifically for "freed slaves such as Dred Scott."
The Dred Scott decision of the 1850s, led by Chief Justice Roger Taney, concluded that Black Americans could not be citizens. Taney's opinion defended a historical consensus that Black people had "no rights that whites are bound to respect."
Jackson asserted that the government and the principal dissent were proposing a return to the core tenet of the Dred Scott decision, despite claims otherwise.
Tuesday's ruling addressed an executive order by Trump that sought to deny citizenship to children of temporary or undocumented immigrants. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also voted to strike down the order, but based his decision on mid-1900s legislation rather than the 14th Amendment.
Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined Thomas in his 91-page dissent. Thomas criticized the majority's decision for granting citizenship to "the children of all foreign birth tourists and illegal aliens," suggesting the ruling devalues American citizenship.
This is not the first time Jackson and Thomas have publicly differed on constitutional interpretation. They previously clashed in a 2023 case concerning race-based college admissions, with Thomas joining the conservative majority and Jackson dissenting. Their opinions in that case also involved direct exchanges regarding racial colorblindness.
Thomas and Jackson are the second and third Black justices to serve on the Supreme Court, following Thurgood Marshall.