5 Faith Facts About Ketanji Brown Jackson, The Supreme Court's First Black Woman

 

Weekend Plug-in 🔌

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(ANALYSIS) Faith.

It’s an important part of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s story.

Here are five religion facts about the 51-year-old judge who on Thursday became the first Black woman confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court:

1. Jackson will be “the first-ever nondenominational Supreme Court justice,” as Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt points out.

2. She’ll become the second current Protestant on the court (along with Neil Gorsuch), joining six Catholics (Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas) and one Jewish justice (Elena Kagan), according to Christianity Today’s Megan Fowler.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. White House photo

But Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins tweets that Jackson will be “the only current Supreme Court justice who *publicly IDs* as Protestant.”

“Gorsuch attended an Episcopal church before joining SCOTUS,” Jenkins explains, “but grew up Catholic and how he personally IDs is unclear.”

3. Jackson “has put her religious faith front, center — and vague,” notes The Associated Press’ Peter Smith. “She’s spoken strongly of the role of her faith in her life and career but hasn’t gotten into the specifics of that commitment.”

RNS’ Adelle Banks offers more details on Jackson’s past statements about her faith in God.

4. At a hearing last month, Jackson was pressed on her faith by Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, ReligionUnplugged.com’s Hamil R. Harris reports.

The Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas recounts this exchange between Graham and Jackson:

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how faithful would you say you are in terms of religion? I go to church probably three times a year so that speaks poorly of me. Do you attend church regularly?,” Graham said.

Jackson declined to give a rating, noting that she worried about the message doing so would send to Americans watching at home.

“I am reluctant to talk about my faith in this way just because I want to be mindful of the need for the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views,” she said.

5. Jackson’s board role at a Christian school offers a window into her beliefs, according to ABC News’ Devin Dwyer.

Dwyer writes:

On her 18th birthday, just days into her freshman year at Harvard in 1988, Ketanji Brown Jackson says she broke down in tears on the university library steps, overcome by homesickness and seeking solace in faith.

“Even in my loneliness, I thanked God for the opportunity he'd given me, for the firm foundation he had provided, and also for how far I had come,” Jackson recounted years later in an address to graduates of Montrose Christian School, a private Baptist-affiliated high school in Rockville, Maryland, where she served on the advisory board.

“The Bible is filled with people who, through faith, were able to see beyond the present, to a world of hope and glory,” she said, according to a copy of the 2011 speech reviewed by ABC News. “God knows what lies ahead of each of us. The best that you can do, as you look forward, is to take the long view.”

A quick final note about Jackson: Prior to law school, she spent a year working at Time magazine.

While there, she contributed to an article by Time’s longtime religion writer, Richard Ostling, now retired.

AP’s Smith shares this:

Adding to the many distinctions of his stellar career in religion journalism, Dick Ostling can include this: sharing a story credit with a future Supreme Court nominee. In 1993, Ketanji Brown worked as a researcher and reporter for Time in between her undergrad and law-school years. In those days, stringers would often send material to the writers, often in different cities without ever meeting in person. Dick says he doesn't remember if he ever met the future Judge Jackson — so he can’t offer insight into her religious beliefs and practices. (I asked.) This article, about dissension within the ACLU, was included in the packet of about 2,000 pages of background documents about Jackson that the Senate Judiciary Committee released about Brown. H/t to Holly Meyer for spotting this.

Ostling stresses that the article was not about religion. He was subbing for a different section of the magazine that week.

A clip of the article in Time magazine, via Senate Judiciary Committee packet. Red circles added for emphasis by AP religion writer Peter Smith.

“She was a New York stringer who filed reporting I used with other materials,” the Godbeat legend told me, “and we did not meet as was often the case in newsmagazines.”

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. The Southern Baptist Convention modeled the Disney boycott. Now, it's offering discounted tickets: Will Baptists gathering for their annual meeting in Anaheim, California, this summer embrace Disney or renew their protest of it?

“It depends on what's more appealing to Southern Baptists this June: the resolutions or the rides,” concludes The Tennessean’s Liam Adams.

2. Afghan evacuees mark first U.S. Ramadan with gratitude, agony: “As they adjust to their new communities, Afghan families evacuated to the United States as the Taliban regained power last summer are celebrating Ramadan with gratitude for their safety,” The Associated Press’ Giovanna Dell’Orto and Mariam Fam report.

“Yet there’s also the agony of being away from loved ones who they fear are in danger under a Taliban leadership crafting increasingly repressive orders.”

3. In a Pennsylvania town, a Ukrainian church and its Russian neighbor navigate wartime tensions: Two pastors in a small community outside of Pittsburgh “have always been friendly, but now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has called on them to work more closely to defuse tensions and maintain relations while their cultural homelands are at war.”

As the Wall Street Journal’s Clare Ansberry writes, “Whatever the outcome, the two priests will continue to support each other, saying they share the same theology.”

More Ukraine news:

• ‘May God make a miracle’: Millions flee Ukraine praying for war’s end (by Michael Ray Smith, ReligionUnplugged.com)

• Turning an enemy into a neighbor: How Catholics are responding to the war in Ukraine (by Mya Jaradat, Deseret News)

• Across U.S., faith groups mobilize to aid Ukrainian refugees (by Deepa Bharath and Luis Andres Henao, Associated Press)

• Christians in U.S. check off ‘bucket lists’ for Ukraine (by Erik Tryggestad, Christian Chronicle)

• A Jewish community center in Poland opens its doors to Ukrainian refugees (by Megan Specia, New York Times)

• How bread became engrained in Ukrainian Christian life (by Rachel Pfeiffer, Christianity Today)

BONUS: Actor Denzel Washington “has made his first public comments about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards,” People’s Abigail Adams reports.

"For whatever reason, the devil got ahold of him that night," Washington said of Smith.

• The story behind University of Oklahoma softball players inviting opponents into postgame prayer circle (by Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman)

• Muslim chaplains forge a new way of thinking about Islam in secular places (by Kathryn Post, RNS)

• Think piece: The enemies of liberalism are showing us what it really means (by Ezra Klein, New York Times)

• Think piece: Women, do we need an intervention? (by Ericka Andersen, New York Times)

• Think piece: Standing for truth in the fog of war (by Katelyn Walls Shelton, World)

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

For her latest State of Faith newsletter, the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas interviews David Crary and Holly Meyer about the new religion entries in the Associated Press Stylebook.

And I make a cameo appearance along with Mary Gladstone of Religion News Service and Richard Ostling, retired religion writer for AP and Time.

• Journal issue explores religion as a weapon in Russia’s war against Ukraine (by Mark R. Elliot)

• Christian university Lipscomb inaugurates first woman president Candice McQueen (by Erik Tryggestad)

• Pope Francis’ visit to Malta highlights the role of St. George Preca, an advocate for teaching the gospel (by Joanne M. Pierce)

• Two more churches split from Hillsong in wake of scandals (by Anne Stych)

• Qatar 2022 World Cup mascot highlights Muslim garb known as ‘keffiyeh’ and ‘thawb’ (by Clemente Lisi)

The Final Plug

The return of baseball reminds me that I neglected to mention this excellent recent story by Religion News Service’s Bob Smietana.

“‘If you build it they will come’ no longer works for baseball — or organized religion,” Smietana suggests.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend (and pray my beloved Texas Rangers win a game or two).

Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for ReligionUnplugged.com and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.

 
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