New Republic in 2014<\/a>: \u201cMy dissenting opinions, like my briefs, are intended to persuade. And sometimes one must be forceful about saying how wrong the Court\u2019s decision is.\u201d<\/p>\nWhen Ginsberg dissented in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in 2007, in which Lilly Ledbetter accused her employer, Goodyear, of paying her a lower salary because of her gender, Ginsberg wrote in a minority opinion that it was up to lawmakers to change the injustice of gender pay discrimination. By 2009, Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and it was the first bill former President Barack Obama signed into law.<\/p>\n
Verna L. Williams, the dean of the law school at the University of Cincinnati, adds that Supreme Court dissents can also give litigants clues for how to argue a similar case down the line. \u201cSometimes in the dissent, you might pick up a nugget,\u201d says Williams who served as lead counsel and successfully argued Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education in 1999 which established that school boards can be held liable for failing to intervene in student-on-student sexual harassment is some instances.<\/p>\n
Jackson will be joining Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor on the liberal side of the court, both of whom are also notable for their dissents. Williams worries that their identity could lead to their dismissal by some. \u201cThere\u2019s the danger that their voices will be further marginalized, because, well, they\u2019re the lady liberals in the minority,\u201d she says. For the first time, the entire liberal wing of the party will be made up of women, two of them women of color.<\/p>\n
But the experts I spoke with also suggested that Jackson\u2019s opinions will have an important impact not only as the first and only Black woman on the court but as one of two Black justices serving at the same time for the first time.<\/p>\n
In his three decades on the court, Justice Clarence Thomas, the longest-serving current justice, has become not just a reliable conservative vote, but an icon for many Republicans for his views on race.<\/p>\n
When Jackson joins him, says Graves: \u201cIt means there will be more than one perspective around Blackness on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
While legal experts believe Jackson can have significant impacts on the court, even in the minority, it\u2019s less clear whether her confirmation will be enough to save the Democratic Party\u2019s governing majority this fall.<\/p>\n
In January, at a White House ceremony announcing Stephen Breyer\u2019s retirement from the bench after 28 years, President Joe Biden reiterated a promise he made on the campaign trail to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if he got the chance. \u201cIt\u2019s long overdue, in my view,\u201d he said. The commitment was originally made as his 2020 presidential campaign was in freefall and in need of a jolt. Some political analysts see parallels between then and the current moment in his presidency, with his approval numbers hovering around 40 percent in most national polls and concerns that Democrats may lose the House and Senate in this year\u2019s midterms.<\/p>\n
Questions remain whether making good on this campaign promise will be enough to galvanize the Democratic base, particularly Black voters, who point to the party coming up short on big-ticket agenda items like police reform and new federal voting rights protections.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s going to be comforting to know that there is a [Justice] Jackson on the Supreme Court. But Black communities aren\u2019t stupid,\u201d says Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. \u201cIt\u2019s not something that Black voters are going to feel in their pockets or see directly in their communities. And that is really what is going to turn people out to the polls,\u201d says Garza who now leads Black to the Future Fund, which aims to make Black communities more powerful in politics.<\/p>\n
For Republicans, Jackson\u2019s confirmation may even add to the GOP\u2019s momentum heading into the midterms this fall. \u201cI think for Republican voters,\u201d says Paris Dennard, spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, \u201cthey\u2019re going to look at this and be reminded of the fact that elections have consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n