(Photo
by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
Since
the
start
of
her
first
term
as
a
Supreme
Court
Justice,
Justice
Jackson
has
been
under
high
scrutiny.
I
wouldn’t
be
too
worried
about
her
though
—
it
is
definitely
going
both
ways.
Not
too
long
ago
she
made
headlines
for
her
insistence
on
historical
accuracy
when
interpreting
the
14th
Amendment
and
she
hasn’t
let
up
since.
While
I
know
that
lawyers
are
generally
allergic
to
numbers
greater
than
13,
a
numerical
breakdown
of
how
often
the
Justices
are
speaking
feels
appropriate.
U.S.
Supreme
Court
Justice
Ketanji
Brown
Jackson
has
outpaced
her
colleagues
in
questioning
while
participating
in
her
first
oral
arguments
on
the
high
court.After
eight
arguments,
Jackson
had
spoken
more
than
11,000
words,
compared
to
nearly
5,500
words
spoken
by
the
next
talkative
justice
so
far
this
term,
Justice
Sonia
Sotomayor,
according
to statistics
by
Adam
Feldman of
Empirical
SCOTUS.
To
put
this
in
visual
terms,
here’s
one
graph
from
Feldman’s
article:
Maybe
Justice
Ginsburg
was
on
to
something
when
she
quipped
about
having
an
all
female
Supreme
Court.
I
would
much
rather
have
a
sense
for
the
gears
turning
in
justices’
heads
by
hearing
the
questions
they
pose
to
council
than
blank
stares
that
make
you
wonder
if
they’ve
managed
to
fall
asleep
with
their
eyes
open
again.
While
it
is
interesting
to
note
the
frequency
of
Brown
Jackson’s
clarifying
(and
pointed)
questing,
who
knows
how
things
would
have
been
a
couple
terms
ago?
The
Washington
Post
and
the
New
York
Times,
along
with Bloomberg
Law,
noted
that
oral
arguments
are
getting
longer,
which
makes
comparisons
more
difficult.The
longer
arguments
are
due
to
a
new
hybrid
procedure
that
involves
free-for-all
questioning
combined
with
a
format
in
which
each
justice
gets
a
turn.
“Arguments
that
once
ended
promptly
after
an
hour
now
routinely
go
much
longer,
sometimes
more
than
twice
that,”
the
Washington
Post
reports.
As
the
Court
continues
to
hear
cases,
I
am
sure
that
Justice
Jackson
will
continue
to
ask
the
real
questions
that
get
to
the
heart
of
the
legal
issues
of
our
time.
What
limits,
if
any,
may
states
place
on
the
apparent
absolute
right
to
personal
gun
ownership?
What
remains
of
the
Establishment
Clause?
Why
won’t
my
ex
text
me
back?
I
hope
that
these
questions,
and
more,
will
be
answered
sooner
rather
than
later.
Justice
Jackson
Has
Dominated
SCOTUS
Oral
Arguments,
Statistics
Show
[ABA
Journal]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.