IT IS KNOWN IN THE BUSINESS AS A 'BENCH SLAP'

By Bob Walsh

 

 

Amy Coney Barrett

Ketanji Brown Jackson

Dueling opinions have been known to be a bit contentious but the one handed down by Amy Coney Barrett specifically speaking to Ketanji Brown Jackson's dissent on the Birth Right Citizenship case was one for the text books.

There were in fact three dissenting votes.  One of them, Sonia Sotomayor, attempted to tie her dissent into a firm legal basis.  Barrett disagreed with it but acknowledged that there was at least a basis for the dissent within the law.  

Jackson's dissent was basically pulled out of thin air, or maybe her anal orifice.  Barret addressed Jackson's dissent thusly.  "We will not dwell on Justice Jackson's argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries worth of precedent, not to mention the constitution itself.  We observe only this.  Justice Jackson decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.  

Jackson referred to whether or not the universal injunctions were in fact provided for in the Judiciary Act of 1789 as "boring legalese."

One legal writer, Kostas Moros, wrote on X, "Translated.  You are so stupid that you are not worth responding to."  It should be noted that the six justices who signed on the opinion were aware of Barrett's remarks as they were part of the 120 page ruling.  Clearly they had no problem with it. 

Court watchers viewed this "bench slap" as extraordinary and a condemnation of Justice Jackson's basic understanding of how the constitution and the courts work.