FAIRBANKS — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the country’s highest court, opened her appearance in a full theater at the University of Alaska Fairbanks with an excerpt from her memoir.
When Jackson recounted learning that she, “the daughter of African American parents who had come of age in the segregated South during the 1950s and early 1960s, would become the 116th justice and the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court in its 233-year history,” the crowd of around 900 erupted into cheers.
Jackson, who was nominated in 2022 by Democratic former President Joe Biden, made her first trip to Alaska to speak about her background and experience. She drew a packed house of Alaskans, some of whom had lined up more than three hours before the event began, buzzing with excitement at the rare opportunity to hear from a sitting U.S. Supreme Court justice in their home state.
Among the crowd were members of the Alaska Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., a historically African American sorority, which had inducted Jackson as an honorary member in 2023.
“Of course, she’s in Alaska — her sorority sisters have to come out and support her,” said Vara Allen-Jones, who took the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks to attend the talk and called Jackson “the ultimate example of excellence, perseverance and dedication.”
Allen-Jones, a retired University of Alaska Anchorage administrator, said that like other sorority members, she hoped to meet Jackson in person. She wanted to thank her “for daring to dream and make that dream a reality,” she said.
“What she’s doing just really creates another pathway for all children, not just African American children,” said Allen-Jones.
During a 50-minute on-stage conversation with moderator Robert Hannon, a retired Fairbanks journalist, Jackson explored themes from her memoir, including growing up in Miami, her experience on her public high school’s speech and debate team, meeting her husband at Harvard University, and the challenges of balancing the demands of her career and parenthood.
“I think that I had the work ethic and the determination and the belief in my own capacity because I had come from a family that was hardworking, that understood its own capacity despite the limitations, and that was committed to investing in the young people, the future generations — that, too, is a part of the African American experience,” said Jackson.
Jackson also spoke about her experience on a court defined by a 6-3 conservative supermajority.
Hannon relayed an audience question about the Supreme Court’s increased reliance on the emergency docket, which bypasses the court’s traditional merit-based arguments.
“I have been quite a vocal critic of the court in terms of its use of the emergency docket,” Jackson said, echoing comments she made during an address to Yale Law School students in April.
“The court ends up in many cases not writing a full opinion to explain what it is that the court has decided, and I think that is problematic for the public, especially when you’re talking about cases that end up addressing very significant issues with clear consequences, negative consequences,” Jackson said.
Hannon also asked about Jackson’s reputation for writing powerful dissents to the majority opinions authored by the conservative justices on the court.
“I really think that dissents are actually one of the most extraordinary aspects of the American legal tradition, because they embody one of our core values, which is the freedom of expression, the tolerance of minority views,” said Jackson.
“It is extraordinary that we have a system that allows for people who disagree, even at the highest levels, to explain their disagreement, to tell everyone how they think the case should have come out, and to essentially lay down a marker for future generations in the hopes that at some point in time, people will agree with their view,” Jackson added.
Immediately after Jackson answered that question, organizers of the event abruptly ended it without explanation.
Michelle Bartlett, who manages the summer lecture series at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said the talk came together after she called Jackson’s office and invited her to Alaska. Bartlett had done the same a decade earlier, when she invited Justice Sonia Sotomayor to speak at the university in 2016. That was the last time a U.S. Supreme Court justice held a public event in Alaska.
All 900 tickets to the event sold out within two minutes when they became available in June, and more than 800 Alaskans signed up for a waiting list within an hour, according to Bartlett. The university hosted watch parties on campuses across the state, including in Anchorage.
“Alaska’s so red, so it was really heartening to know that in two minutes we filled it,” said Bartlett.
Among the hundreds in the audience were members of Alaska’s highest court. Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Carney said she was struck by Jackson’s encouragement to young Alaskans to “really dream big.”
“I think it’s wonderful to have a U.S. Supreme Court justice up here, and I think that maybe drives home the point that we really are a part of the United States, and that Alaskans can do things and can be important as far away as Washington,” said Carney.
