Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson drew fire from an unlikely colleague on Tuesday over her lone dissent in the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision finding Colorado’s ban on so-called «conversion therapy» for minors violated free speech rights.

Fellow liberal Justice Elena Kagan criticized Jackson for failing to acknowledge case law that governs when speech can be regulated in the medical field, marking a rare public break between two justices typically aligned in cases centered on high-profile cultural issues. 

«Justice Jackson’s dissenting opinion claims that this is a small, or even nonexistent, category,» Kagan wrote in a footnote of a concurring opinion, which Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined. «But even her own opinion, when listing laws supposedly put at risk today, offers quite a few examples.»

Kagan, an Obama appointee, said Jackson’s view «rests on reimagining—and in that way collapsing—the well-settled distinction between viewpoint-based and other content-based speech restrictions.»

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The 8-1 decision on Tuesday arose from a lawsuit brought by Kaley Chiles, a licensed Christian therapist, who argued her conversations with youth clients were a form of protected speech. The Colorado government had said the conversations amounted to professional conduct that the state was allowed to regulate.

Jackson’s fiery 35-page dissent, which she read from the bench when the high court announced the opinion, was longer than the majority opinion and Kagan’s concurrence combined.

«Professional medical speech does not intersect with the marketplace of ideas: ‘In the context of medical practice we insist upon competence, not debate,’» Jackson, a Biden appointee wrote, later adding, «Treatment standards exist in America.»

Jackson issued an ominous warning about national implications of the case, as about two dozen other states have laws similar to Colorado’s and will now need to take into account the high court’s ruling.

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The Supreme Court is seen on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026.  (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

«Ultimately, because the majority plays with fire in this case, I fear that the people of this country will get burned,» Jackson said. «Before now, licensed medical professionals had to adhere to standards when treating patients: They could neither do nor say whatever they want.»

One conservative lawyer on social media observed that Kagan seemed «exasperated» by Jackson, who has become known as a verbose justice inclined to tack on lengthy solo dissents to the majority’s opinions in prominent cases. Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro agreed.

«That should be a separate descriptor of an opinion: concurring, dissenting, expressing exasperation with Justice Jackson,» Shapiro wrote on X.

Justice Elena Kagan (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Kagan joined the eight justices in finding that the Colorado government erred in regulating Chiles’ practice because the state used a 2019 law that only banned therapists from counseling minors if the therapy entailed advising them on how to resist becoming transgender or gay. That amounted to restricting one viewpoint, in violation of the First Amendment, the majority said.

Kagan said that if the law were «content-based» rather than «viewpoint-based,» it would present less of a free speech problem.

«Because the State has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward,» Kagan said. «It would, however, be less so if the law under review was content-based but viewpoint neutral.»

Jackson argued that Chiles was «not speaking in the ether; she is providing therapy to minors as a licensed healthcare professional.»

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The Supreme Court’s ruling was narrow, as Justice Neil Gorsuch explained in the majority opinion, as it directed the lower court to reexamine the Colorado law and ensure it did not interfere with Chiles’ speech rights.

«The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country,» Gorsuch wrote. «It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth. However well-intentioned, any law that suppresses speech based on viewpoint represents an ‘egregious’ assault on both of those commitments.»

La coalición internacional que trabaja por la libertad de Narges Mohammadi alertó este martes de que la Premio Nobel de la Paz iraní se encuentra en peligro inminente de muerte en la prisión de Zanjan, en el noroeste del país, después de que las autoridades le negaran atención hospitalaria tras un episodio ocurrido el 24 de marzo en el que fue hallada inconsciente durante más de una hora con síntomas compatibles con un infarto. El régimen no respondió públicamente a las denuncias.

La red de apoyo, que integran la Fundación Narges, Reporteros Sin Fronteras, PEN America y Front Line Defenders, publicó el comunicado desde París tras la visita que el equipo legal realizó el 29 de marzo a la prisión. Encontraron a Mohammadi pálida, debilitada y con una pérdida de peso significativa. Fue conducida a la sala de visitas por una enfermera del centro.

Según la coalición, las compañeras de celda relataron que el 24 de marzo Mohammadi fue hallada inconsciente con los ojos en blanco. La enfermería del centro le prestó atención básica, pero las autoridades se negaron a trasladarla a un hospital o permitirle consultar con un especialista cardiólogo. No es la primera vez que sufre un episodio de este tipo: según sus partidarios y fuentes recogidas por AP, la activista padeció varios infartos durante encarcelamientos anteriores y fue sometida a una cirugía de urgencia en 2022.

El cuadro clínico descrito por su equipo legal incluye fuertes dolores de cabeza, náuseas, visión doble, fluctuaciones graves de la presión arterial y hematomas visibles. Estos últimos son consecuencia, según la coalición, de su violenta detención el 12 de diciembre de 2025 en Mashhad, cuando agentes del régimen la arrestaron durante el funeral de un abogado. Su defensor iraní, Mostafa Nili, denunció en febrero que los golpes en la cabeza durante el arresto y los interrogatorios le provocaron mareos y problemas de visión que persisten.

La situación se agravó en febrero cuando Mohammadi fue trasladada sin previo aviso —en contravención de la ley de procedimiento penal iraní, según su defensa— desde un centro del Ministerio de Inteligencia en Mashhad hasta la prisión general de Zanjan. Allí está recluida junto a internos condenados por delitos violentos y bajo una vigilancia reforzada que ha dificultado el contacto con el exterior. Los bombardeos del conflicto entre Estados Unidos e Israel contra Irán afectan las comunicaciones en la región y añaden una amenaza directa sobre los reclusos.

“Alojar a Mohammadi con delincuentes violentos a pesar de su grave enfermedad cardiaca y sus recientes traumatismos, sumado a las condiciones de guerra y las explosiones que amenazan la vida de los prisioneros, agrava esta amenaza”, subrayó el comité directivo de la coalición. La red exigió a Teherán un permiso médico de salida inmediato y el acceso garantizado a atención especializada, asesoría legal y contacto con su familia.

Mohammadi, de 53 años, ha sido arrestada en trece ocasiones y condenada en diez por cargos que van desde conspiración contra la seguridad nacional hasta propaganda contra el Estado. El Comité Nobel Noruego le concedió el galardón en 2023 por su lucha contra la opresión de las mujeres y la defensa de las libertades fundamentales en Irán. Sus dos hijos, a quienes no ve desde 2015, y su marido, Taghi Rahmani, viven exiliados en París.

Cumple actualmente condenas acumuladas de hasta 18 años. El 7 de febrero de 2026, un tribunal revolucionario de Mashhad la sentenció a seis años adicionales por conspiración y a dieciocho meses más por propaganda. Mientras el conflicto remodela Oriente Próximo, su caso revela cómo el régimen iraní convierte la cárcel en un instrumento de represión lenta contra quienes se atreven a documentar sus abusos desde dentro.

At least 20 people are dead after an overnight attack in Nigeria’s north-central region on Palm Sunday.

The attack happened in the Gari Ya Waye community in the Jos North area of Plateau state, according to Joyce Lohya Ramnap, the state commissioner for information.

It remains unclear how many people were wounded or killed, and who was behind the massacre.

Residents told The Associated Press that gunmen on bikes shot «sporadically» into the community, killing at least 20 people.

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International Christian Concern (ICC), a global humanitarian organization, reported the gunmen killed at least 30 people.

ICC also noted at least 10 people were killed earlier Sunday, with humanitarian worker, Alex Barbir, stating on social media that the victims were Christians.

Following the attacks, the Plateau state government imposed a 48-hour curfew.

People gather at the scene of Sunday night attack in Gari Ya Waye community in the Jos North Nigeria, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Samson Omale/AP Photo)

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In 2025, the ICC documented the killing of at least 54 Christians in Zikke village near Jos following Palm Sunday celebrations.

More than 100 homes were destroyed during the ambush.

Nigeria is ranked the seventh-worst country in the world for Christian persecution, accounting for 72% of the total number of Christian killings worldwide in 2025, according to Open Doors, a global Christian charity.

People gather in Gari Ya Waye community in the Jos North Nigeria, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Samson Omale/AP Photo)

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Last year alone, Open Doors records show 546 Christians were killed in the Plateau State.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.