Barrett defends Jackson jabs as ‘warranted’ in rare public appearance

NEW YORK – Justice Amy Coney Barrett spoke about her recent controversial opinion on universal injunctions on Thursday, saying her stern words for Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in it were appropriate.

When asked by the Free Press’ Bari Weiss about her surprisingly sharp comments on Jackson, Barrett said she felt she “set the calibration right” in the majority opinion, which she authored in June.

“I thought Justice Jackson had made an argument in strong terms that I thought warranted a response,” Barrett said.

Barrett, a Trump appointee, spoke for more than an hour on stage at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan to kick off a string of appearances she is set to make to promote her new book “Listening to the Law” while the Supreme Court is out of session.

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Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“I personally tend not to be spicy for the sake of being spicy, but I am from New Orleans and everyone likes a little Tabasco sometimes,” Barrett said of her opinion on universal injunctions.

Barrett’s remarks came in response to a question from Weiss about a high-profile emergency order in which the Supreme Court blocked lower courts from imposing the injunctions on the government.

Such injunctions, which the court reviewed in Trump v. CASA, have become a point of contention with the administration as judges routinely block key policies of President Donald Trump, only for the Supreme Court to often reverse those orders on its emergency docket.

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President Donald Trump and Justice Amy Coney Barrett stand on a balcony during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. (Ken Cedeno/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Barrett, who authored the opinion banning universal injunctions, accused Jackson of subscribing to an “imperial judiciary” and instructed people not to “dwell” on her colleague’s dissent.

Speaking on stage to the packed auditorium, Barrett said she has the “deepest respect for Jackson” and stressed that she was not attacking Jackson personally.

“We just disagreed about the scope of judicial power,” Barrett said.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts pause for photographs at the top of the steps of the west side of the Supreme Court following her investiture ceremony on October 1, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“I attack ideas. I don’t attack people,” Barrett added, attributing the quote to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she once clerked.

Barrett, a closely watched justice who has raised eyebrows for deviating from her conservative colleagues’ opinions on occasion, was adamant that she and all of her colleagues were amicable.

In a “lightning round” of questions, she was asked to describe each of the justices in one word.

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“Chief,” she quickly replied when asked about Justice John Roberts. Justice Neil Gorsuch got “out west,” and her word for Justice Brett Kavanaugh was “sports.”

On Jackson, Barrett paused before landing on “actor, Broadway.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.