Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act against the backdrop of a world that was generally not accessible to people with disabilities. And so it was discriminatory, in effect, because these folks were not able to access these buildings — and [it] didn't matter whether the person who built the building, or the person who owned the building, intended for them to be exclusionary. That's irrelevant," she continued.
"Congress said the facilities have to be made equally open to people with disabilities, if readily possible. I guess I don't understand why that's not what's happening here."
Jackson went on to note that the idea of Section 2 is that the government "is responding to current-day manifestations of past and present decisions that disadvantaged minorities," and to "make it so they now have equal access to the voting system, right? They're disabled," she said, drilling down on the hypothetical.
FORMER SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WARNS PARTISANSHIP PLAYS ‘TOO MUCH OF A ROLE’ IN JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS
Activists and participants gather in front of the Supreme Court during the re-argument of Louisiana v. Callais on Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Legal Defense Fund)
Despite the heavy backlash that erupted on social media and suggestions that she was describing Black people or other minorities as "disabled," Jackson's remarks were not unique — nor were they unique in the eyes of the Supreme Court.
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As she noted during the same exchange, the "disabled" terminology was used by the Supreme Court in a 2021 case, Allen v. Milligan, which also dealt with race-based redistricting issues in the state of Alabama and issues of discriminatory intent.
In Milligan, Jackson said, the Supreme Court "used the word disabled — we said, that's a way in which you see that these processes are not equally open."
"So I don't understand why it matters whether the state intended to do that. What Congress is saying is, if it is happening, which Section 2 gives us the tools to determine, you've got to fix it."
The court's conservative majority seemed poised to significantly weaken Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, though to what extent it will do so remains to be seen.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-jacksons-remarks-minority-voters-spark-heavy-backlash-theyre-disabled