WASHINGTON — Sen. Marsha Blackburn urged Chief Justice John Roberts to launch an investigation into liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson over her attendance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Jackson, a longtime theater lover, was there because she had been nominated for a Grammy for narrating the audiobook version of her memoir, “Lovely One,” but Blackburn raised impartiality concerns due to anti-ICE jokes during the politically charged award show.
Some critics have accused Jackson of clapping during those jabs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“While it is by no means unheard of or unusual for a Supreme Court justice to attend a public function, very rarely—if ever—have justices of our nation’s highest Court been present at an event at which attendees have amplified such far-left rhetoric,” Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wrote in a Thursday letter to Roberts.
Blackburn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for an investigation into whether Jackson’s actions comply with the Supreme Court’s Code of Conduct’s stipulation that justices “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.”
The Supreme Court rolled out its first-ever code of conduct back in 2023 after public pressure over some of the conservative justices’ undisclosed gifts and travel.
All nine justices signed onto the code of conduct, but it appears to have few teeth.
Given that the high court is currently tackling high-profile cases revolving around President Trump, such as the birthright citizenship case, and will likely consider more immigration cases in the future, Blackburn and other critics argued that Jackson’s appearance raises questions about whether she will be fair.
Attendees were seen donning “ICE Out” lapel pins, and some of the Grammy winners espoused anti-ICE rhetoric such as “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “F— ICE.”
Blackburn recounted how Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) penned a letter to Roberts urging him to ensure that conservative Justice Samuel Alito would recuse himself in the 2020 election and Capitol riot cases because his wife put up a Revolutionary War-era flag at his house.
Alito declined to do so. At another point, Alito drew international headlines in 2022 when he publicly mocked European leaders for trashing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn precedents guaranteeing a national right to abortion first set in Roe v. Wade.
Blackburn, who is running to be governor of Tennessee, also pointed to the lefty pressure campaign against conservative Justice Clarence Thomas over his vacationing with Dallas-based real estate guru and GOP donor Harlan Crow.
“Congressional Democrats and the legacy media have spent years smearing Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices as corrupt, partisan, and having engaged in conduct that violates the Court’s Code of Conduct,” Blackburn bemoaned.
“These public smear campaigns orchestrated by congressional Democrats and amplified by the mainstream media were baseless and a pathetic attempt to influence the decision-making process of the Court.”
The Tennessee Republican contended that, unlike the “meritless claims” against Alito and Thomas, there are “serious questions” about Jackson’s attendance at the Grammy Awards.
While Jackson typically sides with her two fellow liberal justices in polarizing cases, she has crossed ideological lines from time to time. For example, in 2024, she joined five conservative justices in deciding to significantly narrow a key Capitol riot-related charge used against Trump.
Jackson made her Broadway debut in late 2024, participating in a queer reimagining of William Shakespeare’s classic “Romeo & Juliet.”
The Post reached out to the Supreme Court for comment. The high court will hear its next round of oral arguments during the last week of February.
