Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court’s most junior member, used a public appearance at the Global Black Economic Forum during the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on 5 July to defend a spate of blistering dissents that have put her at odds with the Court’s conservative majority. Jackson said several recent rulings pose an “existential threat to the rule of law,” adding that heightened public attention to the Court is healthy in a democracy. Data released by court analysts show that in the term that ended last month, Jackson produced more than 24 signed opinions—second only to Justice Clarence Thomas—and filed concurrences at the highest rate recorded since at least 1937. She also spoke roughly 79,000 words during oral arguments, far more than any of her eight colleagues, a level of engagement she said stems from her experience as a former trial judge. Jackson’s most pointed critique came in her solo dissent in Trump v. Casa, where the majority upheld limits on lower-court injunctions against President Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship. She warned that the decision would allow “executive lawlessness to flourish,” prompting Justice Amy Coney Barrett to label her argument “startling” and untethered from precedent. The justice’s robust written and oral presence has also drawn rebukes from within the Court’s liberal wing. In several cases this term, Justice Sonia Sotomayor offered detailed clarifications after Jackson stood alone in dissent, underscoring rising tensions on both ideological flanks of the bench. Jackson acknowledged the scrutiny, saying she is “doing my best work” so the public can judge her performance on its merits. The appearance doubled as promotion for her forthcoming memoir, “Lovely One,” as she enters a fourth term likely to keep her squarely in the spotlight of the Court’s most divisive debates.