Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sent a letter to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday urging an investigation into Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s attendance at the “highly politicized” 68th Annual Grammy Awards over the weekend.
Jackson attended the Grammy Awards on Sunday, where she was nominated for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording for her memoir, “Lovely One.”
During the awards show, multiple award recipients – including artists Billie Eilish and Bad Bunny – delivered politicized acceptance speeches, taking aim specifically at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
Eilish, during her acceptance speech said, “No one is illegal on stolen land…I feel really hopeful in this room and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting, and our voices really do matter and the people matter. And f*** ICE is all I want to say.”
Bad Bunny, who is set to headline Sunday’s NFL Super Bowl halftime show, also mentioned ICE in his acceptance speech after winning Album of the Year, saying, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out.”
In her letter to Roberts (picture here), Blackburn emphasized that 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.”
“I urge you to conduct a thorough investigation into Justice Jackson’s attendance at this event and whether her presence at such an event complies with the obligation that a Supreme Court justice “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary”,” Blackburn wrote.
The Tennessee senator said Jackson’s “participation in such a brazenly political, anti-law enforcement event” questions “her ability to remain an impartial member of the Supreme Court.”
“Following Justice Jackson’s participation in such a partisan and inflammatory event, an investigation into her ability to remain impartial with respect to immigration matters that come before the Court is urgently needed,” Blackburn wrote.
“To that end, in the interest of a fair-minded, impartial, and independent federal judiciary, I urge you to initiate an investigation into Justice Jackson’s attendance at this event and if her participation in any way would require recusal from matters that will come before the Court,” Blackburn added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Sen. Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Photos “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson” by SCOTUS and “Supreme Court” by The Supreme Court Historical Society.
