Poppy Harlow welcomed New York magazine senior correspondent and Notorious RBG co-author Irin Carmon to the Wednesday edition of CNN Newsroom to discuss their hopes that Ketanji Brown Jackson will eventually be able to change the minds of her eventual Supreme Court colleagues on issues of gender discrimination, mainly abortion.
Consigned to the realization that Jackson will not change the ideological makeup of the Court, Harlow searched for a silver lining:
I know she won't change the balance of the Court, 6-3, but I wonder if you agree with Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times who wrote earlier this month, that maybe she won’t “change the Court, but she may very well change the conversation and that’s a start.” And she talks about how former Justice Thurgood Marshall, in her opinion, was able to influence former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor during their time on the bench together and I wonder if you think, perhaps, over time, Justice Jackson might do the same?
Carmon held out the same hope: “I mean, Justice O'Connor herself crossed the aisle several times on issues related to gender discrimination often, you know, even though she and Justice Ginsburg didn’t agree on a lot they did manage to find common ground when it came to cases that concern women's rights.”
After referencing a Fourth Amendment case where Ginsburg convinced her fellow justices to rule a strip search of a teenage girl unconstitutional, Carmon used that case to hope that Jackson could rebut pro-life arguments:
Every day, every single term, the Court is dealing in questions of -- of both racial and gender discrimination, justice, what are the proper remedies to those issues and so to have someone in the room for whom these are not theoretical, particularly yes, we’re expecting this case, this abortion decision that could be monumental, could overturn Roe v. Wade, it won't be the last time that the Court considers abortion and often times these anti-abortion restrictions are made in the name supposedly protecting black women or black babies and so to have somebody being rhetorically addressed who can then in the room say, here's the facts, here's some lived experience in addition to their deep legal credentials, I do think makes a big difference.
There’s no need for “supposedly,” abortion restrictions do protect black babies and babies of all races. It also discredits the idea that Jackson is a neutral judge who would put aside her own beliefs and preferences when deciding cases.
Harlow wrapped up the segment by agreeing with the pro-abortion talking points of her guest: “It’s a really important point. Irin Carmon, it’s great to have you, sorry to have to be brief this morning, but we'll have you back again very soon.”
This segment was sponsored by Safelite.
Here is a transcript for the March 23 show:
CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto
3/23/2022
10:35 AM ET
POPPY HARLOW: I know she won't change the balance of the Court, 6-3, but I wonder if you agree with Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times who wrote earlier this month, that maybe she won’t “change the Court, but she may very well change the conversation and that’s a start” and she talks about how former Justice Thurgood Marshall, in her opinion, was able to influence former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor during their time on the bench together and I wonder if you think, perhaps, over time, Justice Jackson might do the same?
IRIN CARMON: Sure, certainly something we can see in history. I mean, Justice O'Connor herself crossed the aisle several times on issues related to gender discrimination often, you know, even though she and Justice Ginsburg didn’t agree on a lot they did manage to find common ground when it came to cases that concern women's rights. And—and-- Justice Ginsburg actually told me in an interview once that she managed to convince her colleagues to change their minds in a Fourth Amendment case that involved the search of a teenage girl by—
HARLOW: Right
CARMON: -- helping them understand just how invasive it would be, to be searched that way as a teenage girl. It certainly does matter and every day, every single term, the Court is dealing in questions of—of-- both racial and gender discrimination, justice, what are the proper remedies to those issues and so to have someone in the room for whom these are not theoretical, particularly yes, we’re expecting this case, this abortion decision that could be monumental, could overturn Roe v. Wade, it won't be the last time that the Court considers abortion and often times these anti-abortion restrictions are made in the name supposedly protecting black women or black babies and so to have somebody being rhetorically addressed who can then in the room say, here's the facts, here's some lived experience in addition to their deep legal credentials, I do think makes a big difference.
HARLOW: It’s a really important point. Irin Carmon, it’s great to have you, sorry to have to be brief this morning, but we'll have you back again very soon. Thanks again.
