Like many populist leaders, Trump accuses judges of being illegitimate obstacles to safety and democracy

  Federal judges and at times Supreme Court justices have repeatedly challenged – and blocked – President Donald Trump’s attempts to reshape fundamental aspects of American government.

  Many of Trump’s more than 150 executive orders, including one aimed at eliminating the Department of Education, have been blocked by injunctions and lawsuits.

  When a majority of Supreme Court justices ruled on May 16, 2025 that the Trump administration could not deport a group of Venezuelan immigrants without first giving them the right to due process in court, Trump attacked the court.

Voting rights at risk after Supreme Court makes it harder to challenge racial gerrymandering

  Two recent Supreme Court rulings on congressional redistricting will have starkly different consequences for Black voters in the 2024 election.

  One ruling boosted Black voting power in Louisiana, while another decision upheld a South Carolina congressional map that the lower court had declared “illegal racial gerrymandering.”

  Despite these seemingly contradictory outcomes, there is a through line.

Black female prosecutors like Fani Willis face the unequal burden of both racist and sexist attacks

  On the day he was indicted on financial fraud charges in a New York City courtroom, former U.S. President Donald Trump launched an attack against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

  One of the handful of Black female prosecutors in the country, Willis has led a criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged campaign interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

  “In the wings, they’ve got a local racist Democrat district attorney in Atlanta who is doing everything in her power to indict me over an absolutely perfect phone call,” Trump said on April 4, 2023.

Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as Supreme Court justice

  Shortly after noon on June 30, 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson took the judicial oath and officially became a Supreme Court Justice of the United States – the first Black woman to sit on the bench.

  The elevation of Jackson to the Supreme Court will not change the ideological setup of the bench – which will continue to be split 6-3 in favor of conservative justices.

Supreme Justice: Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation is historic

  The historic confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the 116th Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is an essential step toward a more inclusive America that reflects the strength of our diverse nation and recognizes the unique and often overlooked role African-American women have played in building and shaping this country.

  Justice Jackson is the first Black woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history and will be the sixth woman out of the 116 justices to serve on the high court. Justice Jackson’s elevation to our nation’s highest court is a cause for celebration and an encouraging signal to future generations that aspire to the highest offices in our nation.

Ketanji Brown Jackson’s path to Supreme Court nomination was paved by trailblazing Black women judges

  Just five women and two African Americans, both men, are among the 115 people who have served on the United States’ highest court over more than two centuries. Both of those numbers may change in 2022, with President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a 51-year-old Washington, D.C., native raised in Miami, to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

  Jackson’s rise is, in part, due to the work of those women and Black men – and to Black women judges dating back almost a century.