After the majority draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked, the left quickly mobilized with the talking points that Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett lied about Roe v. Wade being “settled precedent.” It was a garbage argument, of course, as there is no such thing as “settled precedent.” If there were, slavery would still be legal. Nevertheless, it’s an argument that was endlessly repeated after the Dobbs opinion was leaked.
So, my question is: Will the same people who accused Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett of lying also accuse Joe Biden’s recently-confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson of lying about the individual right to keep and bear arms being under the Second Amendment?
During Jackson’s confirmation hearings, Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked her about District of Columbia v. Heller, which Jackson said she was familiar with.
“That was a decision by the Supreme Court that recognized the individual right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment. Correct?” Cornyn asked.
“Yes,” Jackson replied.
Then Cornyn asked, “Is that a precedent of the Court?”
Jackson replied, “It is.”
“And you would respect that precedent?”
“Yes, senator,” Jackson told him. “All precedents of the Supreme Court have to be respected.”
She reiterated the point under questioning from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
“You agree it is an individual right not only reserved to militias. Because there are some that keep trying to say that it’s only reserved to militias. But if my memory is correct, you base this on District of Columbia v. Heller,” Sen. Blackburn asked her.
“Yes, ma’am. The Supreme Court has established it is an individual right,” Jackson responded.
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Yet Judge Jackson was captured on video applauding New Zealand’s assault weapons ban. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern mentioned her country banning assault weapons while delivering a commencement speech for Harvard University graduates on May 26. Video of the speech shows Jackson, who was in attendance, clapping after Ardern mentioned New Zealand’s ban.
“In the past ten years, we have passed laws that include everything from the introduction of gay marriage and the banning of conversion therapy, right through to embedding a 1.5-degree climate change target into law, banning military-style semi-automatics and assault rifles, and the decriminalization of abortion,” said Ardern, which was met with applause from the pending Supreme Court Justice.
Is this proof that Jackson doesn’t believe that the right to bear arms is a precedent of the Supreme Court that should be respected? Did she reveal that, should an assault weapons ban come before the Supreme Court, she would not respect the individual right to bear arms, which was established by the Second Amendment and affirmed by District of Columbia v. Heller, as she said she would?
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