{"id":75462,"date":"2026-04-01T14:03:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/?p=75462"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:03:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:03:44","slug":"as-the-only-black-woman-on-the-supreme-court-ketanji-brown-jacksons-lone-dissent-in-conversion-therapy-ruling-stands-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/2026\/04\/as-the-only-black-woman-on-the-supreme-court-ketanji-brown-jacksons-lone-dissent-in-conversion-therapy-ruling-stands-out\/","title":{"rendered":"As the only Black woman on the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson\u2019s lone dissent in conversion therapy ruling stands out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cPeople say Black women will save the democracy, but it\u2019s like we can only do but so much,\u201d Dr. Christina M. Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, tells theGrio.<\/p>\n

In a rare occurrence for the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issused a lone dissent in a recent ruling in Chiles v. Salazar on Colorado\u2019s ban of conversion therapy for gay and transgender minors. The court\u2019s only Black female justice disputed the court\u2019s majority opinion\u2013which included Jackson\u2019s liberal peers Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan\u2013that ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor providing conversion therapy, who says Colorado\u2019s ban infringed on her free speech under the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

The high court ruled that because Chiles\u2019s version of conversion therapy is talk therapy and not physical\u2013geared toward helping gay and transgender minors change their sexual orientation and gender identity\u2013the state law seeks to \u201cregulate the content of Ms. Chiles\u2019s speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes a step further, prescribing what views she may and may not express,\u201d said the court led by Justice Neil Gorsuch.<\/p>\n

Justice Jackson, noting that Chiles\u2019s practice isn\u2019t simply about free speech but provides a medical service to vulnerable children, writes in her 34-page dissent, \u201cI respectfully dissent. Stated simply, the majority has failed to appreciate the crucial context in which Chiles\u2019s constitutional claims have arisen. Chiles is not speaking in the ether; she is providing therapy to minors as a licensed healthcare professional.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cIn concluding otherwise, the Court\u2019s opinion misreads our precedents, is unprincipled and unworkable, and will eventually prove untenable for those who rely upon the long-recognized responsibility of States to regulate the medical profession for the protection of public health.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Jackson cites scientific research showing that conversion therapy is not only harmful, but ineffective in altering one\u2019s sexual orientation or gender identity.<\/p>\n

She explains, \u201cStudies show that children often feel the effects of the shame and stigma from conversion therapy even more vividly than adults due to their \u2018increased emotional vulnerability and less developed capacity to cope effectively with the harm of discrimination.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson explains that Colorado\u2019s law does not target or prohibit Chiles\u2019s views, as she can freely promote conversion therapy and \u201cvociferously decry the State\u2019s prohibition.\u201d She simply could not \u201c<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court justice nominated by President Joe Biden says plainly, \u201cOur First Amendment jurisprudence does not treat speech as existing in a vacuum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s dissent is not only rare but symbolic. As the only Black woman on the nation\u2019s highest court, Jackson is demonstrating the countless ways Black women have had to hold the line in defending democracy, says Dr. Christina M. Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say Black women will save the democracy, but it\u2019s like we can only do but so much. We can only hold the tide, but for so long, by ourselves,\u201d Greer tells theGrio.<\/p>\n

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign\u2013and the first Black woman to lead the nation\u2019s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, tells theGrio, \u201cJustice Jackson\u00a0understands what\u2019s at stake here: when licensed medical professionals are not held to a set of standards, patients suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LGBTQ+ leader added, \u201cToday\u2018s ruling means more American kids will suffer. To undermine protections that keep kids and families safe from these abusive practices is shocking \u2014 and our children deserve better. We are grateful\u00a0Justice Jackson\u00a0sees and values young people\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another rare move, Justice Jackson delivered her dissent in from the bench\u2013an act that is typically reserved to signify intense disagreement with the majority in high-stakes cases.<\/p>\n

As Black women have often done throughout recent and past history, Jackson warned of the looming consequences of the Supreme Court\u2019s decision. She cautioned that the ruling \u201copens a dangerous can of worms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt threatens to impair States\u2019 ability to regulate the provision of medical care in any respect. It extends the Constitution into uncharted territory in an utterly irrational fashion. And it ultimately risks grave harm to Americans\u2019 health and wellbeing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the Black woman who\u2019s making this argument for a group of people she is not even a part of, but understands the danger that this rule could present, not just to this group of people, but how it will be weaponized and expanded for other groups of people,\u201d Dr. Greer tells theGrio. \u201cI think this is just a classic case of like, sometimes good-meaning white people don\u2019t understand the capacity of whiteness and how opening up that door will open it up to a lot more than just this conversation about conversion therapy for youth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: TheGrio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cPeople say Black women will save the democracy, but it\u2019s like we can only do but so much,\u201d Dr. Christina M. Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, tells theGrio. In a rare occurrence for the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issused a lone dissent in a recent ruling in Chiles v. Salazar on Colorado\u2019s ban of conversion therapy for gay and transgender minors. The court\u2019s only Black female justice disputed the court\u2019s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50,371],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feed-content","category-thegrio","infinite-scroll-item","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"auto feed","author_link":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/author\/autofeed\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75472,"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75462\/revisions\/75472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmojfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}