In a recent Bloomberg Law article, Carliss Chatman, associate professor at SMU Dedman School of Law and faculty affiliate of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, examines Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent in the Supreme Court’s decision to deny review in Nicholson v. W.L. York, Inc.
Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented from the Court’s decision not to hear the case, arguing that each denial Nicholson faced should be treated as a separate, actionable incident under precedent set in National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. Morgan. In her dissent, Jackson challenged the Fifth Circuit’s narrow reading of Section 1981’s statute of limitations, insisting that such reasoning risks excusing ongoing racial discrimination in the contracting process.
“Discrimination in contracting rarely happens in a single, isolated moment,” Chatman writes. “Instead, it often unfolds over time through repeated denials that may appear procedurally neutral but, taken together, reflect systemic exclusion.”
Jackson’s dissent, Chatman contends, serves as a critical reminder of the original intent behind Section 1981, to dismantle market structures that reinforce racial exclusion, and a call for courts and practitioners to reaffirm its role as a tool for economic justice.
Read the full article here: Justice Jackson Warns Timing Rules Shield Systemic Workplace Bias
