The Volokh Conspiracy
Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent
Justice Jackson Did Not Wear A Dissent Collar To The Inauguration. She Apparently Wore A Talisman To Ward Off Evil.
Does anyone still want to talk about Martha Ann Alito's flags?
As I watched the Justices enter the Capitol Rotunda, I noticed that Justice Jackson was wearing a distinctive collar. I asked whether it was a dissent collar.
Remember, that RBG wore her dissent collar the day after Trump's 2016 election.
It may be even worse than I thought.
This report in Vogue (which I cannot vouch for) explains:
Over her black robes, the Justice wore a collar made of cowrie shells along with a pair of matching earrings. While the shell was used as currency in a variety of ancient cultures around the world, it was especially prized in African cultures, where it signified prosperity and protection. Meanwhile, the National Museum of African American History and Culture notes that, in America, the shell is thought to be a totem used to resist enslavement. Justice Jackson herself is a descendant of enslaved people. The connection feels particularly prescient on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which happened to coincide with the Inauguration. (This has only happened once before, on Bill Clinton's 1997 Inauguration Day.)
Beyond its status as a protective talisman, the cowrie is also associated with womanhood and fertility. During his first term, Trump—who was found liable for sexual abuse in May 2023—made continuous efforts to erode women's rights, which included appointing Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of attempted rape, to the Supreme Court. Even after Trump left office, his insidious, anti-women agenda continued to rear its head when the conservative-leaning Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
While Justice Jackson has yet to explain the exact meaning of her Inauguration collar, the cowrie shell's multiple meanings point to a sartorial expression of her dissent.
The Justice's symbolic choice followed in the tradition of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose roster of collars communicated her opinions—from the beaded jabot she wore to read a majority ruling, to the metallic necklace that telegraphed her dissent. While she has been photographed on the bench in a variety of statement-making jabots, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's collar for President Trump's swearing-in ceremony sent a particularly powerful message.
Others made the same observation.
I love this so much!
At the inauguration, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wore a distinctive collar adorned with cowrie shells, which are believed to offer protection from evil in African traditions.
This choice mirrors the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's practice of using… pic.twitter.com/BX6WzvwVt5
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) January 21, 2025
Above the Law blares that "Ketanji Brown Jackson Wears Protection From Evil At Trump's Inauguration."
Even if Justice Jackson did not intend to convey this message, there is clearly the (literal) appearance of impropriety. This is not just, as I thought, a fashion faux pas.
Yet, there is not a word about whether this move violates any ethical rules. People praise Jackson like they praised Ginsburg's political sartorial choices. Remember, Justice Jackson is attending the Inauguration, only a few yards away from Trump. But she apparently deems it necessary to wear a talisman to ward off evil? Will Jackson face any recusal motions for all Trump-related cases? Jackson, of all members, should be grateful there is no "binding" Supreme Court ethics code.
Meanwhile, there are never-ending efforts to attack Justice Alito based on the non-political flags his wife chose to fly at their home. Remember almost every single attack on "legal ethics" is just interference, and an attempt to force conservative justices to recuse. There is no there there.
