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Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg Related Stories June 20, 2025, 2:45 PM UTC June 20, 2025, 2:23 PM UTC Search by TopicJunior justice takes aim at textualismAccuses justices of favoring rich partiesJustice Ketanji Brown Jackson called textualism “incessantly malleable” and accused her colleagues of giving the perception that the Supreme Court favors moneyed interests over ordinary citizens in two pointed dissents issued Friday.In both cases, the court’s junior justice, appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022, was writing only for herself.In Stanley v. City of Sanford, the majority said the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t allow retirees to sue their former employers over post-employment benefits.In a footnote to her dissent, Jackson accused her colleagues of using the theory of textualism to get a desired result. That theory emphasized the plain text in interpreting statutory language.She explained that the role of a judge in interpreting statutes is to give effect to Congress’ intent. Textualism, on the other hand, ignores broader context and “turns the interpretive task into a potent weapon for advancing judicial policy preferences.”“By ‘finding’ answers in ambiguous text, and not bothering to consider whether those answers align with other sources of statutory meaning, pure textualists can easily disguise their own preferences as ‘textual’ inevitabilities,” Jackson said.Textualism is “somehow always flexible enough to secure the majority’s desired outcome,” Jackson said.Her dissent was joined in part by Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Notably, Sotomayor didn’t join the footnote.It isn’t uncommon for justices to lob barbed language at each other in opinions, something Jackson herself has done on occasion beginning in her first term. Jackson accused the majority of “let-them-eat-cake obliviousness” in her 2023 dissent in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard in which the court struck down affirmative action in higher education. In a separate case Friday, Jackson also accused her colleagues of running the risk of eroding public trust in the court’s impartiality after it revived a lawsuit fuel producers brought challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to approve California regulations that require automakers to make more electric cars.She said the court rests its decision in Diamond Alternative Energy v. EPA on a theory of standing that it has refused to apply in cases brought by less powerful plaintiffs.“This case gives fodder to the unfortunate perception that moneyed interests enjoy an easier road to relief in this Court than ordinary citizens,” she said.In the court’s majority ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the fuel producers had standing to challenge the regulations because their injuries in fact and causation were straight forward.One requirement for standing is for there to be a sufficient relationship between the judicial relief that’s being requested and the injury suffered.“In all events, record evidence confirms what common sense tells us: Invalidating the regulations likely (not certainly, but likely) would make a difference for fuel producers because automakers would likely manufacture more vehicles that run on gasoline and other liquid fuels,” Kavanaugh said.But Jackson said it’s not clear how automakers and consumers would respond and “intuition alone will not suffice.”Jackson emphasized the importance of collegiality on the court in an interview last year with the . “We have lifetime appointments, so it’s nice to get along with the people you work with,” Jackson said. Asked how relations hold up in light of harsh opinion language, Jackson laughed before replying, “The Court, I think, is pretty good at compartmentalizing.” Continue Reading To contact the reporters on this story: in Washington at ; in Washington at To contact the editors responsible for this story: at ; John Crawley at Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading: Learn About Bloomberg Law AI-powered legal analytics, workflow tools and premium legal & business news. Learn more Already a subscriber? Log in to keep reading or access research tools. Log In © 2025 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved Sign Up For Newsletters View Bloomberg Law's YouTube Submit A News Tip About Us Contact Us pro.bloomberglaw.com Do Not Sell Or Share My Personal Information 24/7 BLAW® HELP DESK 888.560.2529 help@bloomberglaw.com Terms of Service • Privacy Policy Copyright • Accessibility © 2025 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes Herself Heard, Prompting a Rebuke In solo dissents this term, the justice accused the conservative majority of lawless bias., Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson called textualism “incessantly malleable” and accused her colleagues of giving the perception that the Supreme Court favors moneyed interests over ordinary citizens in two pointed dissents issued Friday..