Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is facing fresh criticism after appearing on the cover of Essence magazine, with critics arguing the Supreme Court justice is leaning too hard into celebrity treatment.
The latest issue features Jackson smiling in a purple coat with the caption “the people’s champion” printed beneath her photo.
The cover was unveiled as America marked its 250th birthday, and Essence framed the moment as a historic first for Jackson’s Supreme Court career.
But the glossy rollout quickly drew pushback from legal observers and conservatives who said Supreme Court justices are supposed to interpret the law, not build personal brands.
“Supreme Court Justices are not celebrities and should not be treated like celebrities,” Andrew Fleischman, a Georgia trial and appeal lawyer, wrote of the cover.
Essence describes itself as the “premiere lifestyle, fashion and beauty magazine for African-American women.”
“As America celebrates its 250th birthday, ESSENCE is honored to unveil the first magazine cover of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic career,” Essence tweeted on the 4th of July, accompanied by a photo of the cover.
“As the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, there is no better moment to celebrate her extraordinary legacy. Ketanji Brown Jackson represents the American Dream and serves as a powerful voice for those simply seeking the God-given birthrights promised to every American,” the tweet continued.
Jackson’s public life away from the bench has drawn periodic scrutiny from conservatives and some legal commentators.
Her appearances at the Grammy Awards, Broadway events and in fashion-adjacent media have fueled complaints that she is blurring the line between judicial service and public celebrity.
“Ketanji Brown Jackson isn’t supposed to be ‘the people’s champion,’” Billy Binion, a reporter for a libertarian magazine, wrote on X. “She’s not a politician. She’s supposed to interpret the law, not make it. This kind of thing is why so many people misunderstand how our government works at a basic level.”
Laura Powell, a civil liberties attorney, also criticized the cover’s framing.
“Supreme Court justices shouldn’t be celebrities,” Laura Powell, a civil liberties attorney, wrote of the cover. “They don’t have to run for office and don’t need political slogans like ‘The People’s Champion.’ They should simply do their job of interpreting the law according to constitutional principles.”
Jackson is not the only justice whose outside activities have drawn attention.
Other members of the court have reported book income, teaching payments, travel reimbursements and gifts in annual financial disclosures.
Sitting justices have also appeared on magazine covers before, including the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2015 and Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009.
But critics say the slogan under Ketanji Brown Jackson’s photo is the problem.
Michelle Zier, an adjunct professor at Concordia University Chicago, pointed to Alexander Hamilton’s warning in Federalist 78 that judges would need the fortitude to resist becoming champions of public sentiment.
“But it is easy to see that it would require an uncommon portion of fortitude in the judges to do their duty as faithful guardians of the Constitution, where legislative invasions of it had been instigated by the major voice of the community,” Hamilton wrote in Federalist 78.
Even some on the left were uneasy with the cover.
“Obviously, nowhere near the worst or weirdest thing is sitting justice has done but yeah we really need that SCOTUS code of ethics,” Sam Weinberg, who runs a progressive advocacy group, wrote of the cover.
Jackson has previously defended her public appearances, including her attendance at the Grammy Awards, by saying justices have a role outside the courtroom when the court is not in session.
“When the justices are on recess — which is what we are doing right now — we really have an opportunity to go out into the community in various different ways,” she told “The View” in February.
The Essence cover now puts Jackson back in the middle of the same debate.
Her defenders see a barrier-breaking justice being celebrated by a major cultural magazine.
Her critics see another reminder that the Supreme Court is drifting closer to politics, celebrity and personal branding.
For a justice sitting on the nation’s highest court, “the people’s champion” is a loaded title.
And plenty of court watchers think it belongs on a campaign poster, not under the photo of a Supreme Court justice.
