THE SUPREME COURT NEEDS REBALANCING
Appointing a black woman with a different set of life experiences is a good first step.
QUICK READ: While the US has been moving towards a multiracial, multicultural society, the ultra-conservative 6-3 Supreme Court is undoing our advances. Rebalancing the Supreme Court and restoring its integrity requires adding additional judges, but swiftly confirming a highly qualified, progressive black woman will have an immediate positive impact on judicial decision-making.
TAKE ACTION NOW:
BACKGROUND
While the United States has been moving towards a multiracial, multicultural society, the ultra-conservative 6-3 Supreme Court is committed to returning America to the 1950’s:
Emasculating Voting Rights protections
Effectively overruling Roe v. Wade
Reversing Guantanamo Bay detainees’ due process rights
Reimposing juvenile life-without-parole
Bolstering Christian conservatives’ religious freedom protections
Undermining progressive regulation, such as Biden’s vaccine mandates
Considering gun rights expansions and gutting affirmative action
Reversing this race to the right requires passage of the Judiciary Act of 2021, which would rebalance the Supreme Court and restore it integrity by adding 4 justices.
A good first step would be Biden’s appointment of a black woman to the Supreme Court to make it better reflect the diversity of the public it serves and bring to the court a set of life experiences the present Justices lack. America’s had 115 Supreme Court Justices—112 were white and 110 were men. There has never been a black woman.
Our MoCs must impress on the President that his nominee be a strong progressive who will fight to uphold the rights the Supreme Court has been systematically dismantling.
ACTION One: Call the Senate.
Script for Oregon Senators
SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
My name is [--] and I'm a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
The radical right has taken over the Supreme Court. Restoring its integrity requires adding additional judges, but swiftly confirming a highly qualified, progressive black woman will have an immediate positive impact on judicial decision-making. I need you to:
- Impress upon President Biden the need to nominate a strong progressive black woman and move swiftly to her confirmation
- Co-sponsor and push for passage of the Judiciary Act of 2021 which will add four Justices to the Supreme Court.
SEN. WYDEN:
Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
The radical right has taken over the Supreme Court. Restoring its integrity requires adding additional judges, but swiftly confirming a highly qualified, progressive black woman will have an immediate positive impact on judicial decision-making. I need you to:
- Impress upon President Biden the need to nominate a strong progressive black woman and move swiftly to her confirmation
- Co-sponsor and push for passage of the Judiciary Act of 2021 which will add four Justices to the Supreme Court.
Script for Republican Senators
D.C switchboard: 202-224-3121
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], [state], [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
Don’t embarrass yourself and your party with racist misogynistic nonsense by opposing Biden’s Supreme Court nominee . This is a fight not worth having.
ACTION TWO: Call the House.
Script for Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | DC office: 202-225-0855
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
The radical right has taken over the Supreme Court. Restoring its integrity requires adding additional judges, but swiftly confirming a highly qualified, progressive black woman will have an immediate positive impact on judicial decision-making. I need you to:
- Impress upon President Biden the need to nominate a strong progressive black woman and move swiftly to her confirmation
- Co-sponsor and push for passage of the Judiciary Act of 2021 which will add four Justices to the Supreme Court.
Script for Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
Medford office: 541-776-4646 | DC office: 202-225-6730
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
Don’t embarrass yourself and your party with racist misogynistic nonsense by opposing Biden’s Supreme Court nominee . This is a fight not worth having.
Script for Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Oregon office: 503-231-2300 | DC office: 202-225-4811
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
The radical right has taken over the Supreme Court. Restoring its integrity requires adding additional judges, but swiftly confirming a highly qualified, progressive black woman will have an immediate positive impact on judicial decision-making. I need you to:
- Impress upon President Biden the need to nominate a strong progressive black woman and move swiftly to her confirmation
- Co-sponsor and push for passage of the Judiciary Act of 2021 which will add four Justices to the Supreme Court.
Script for Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | DC office: 202-225-6416
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
The radical right has taken over the Supreme Court. Restoring its integrity requires adding additional judges, but swiftly confirming a highly qualified, progressive black woman will have an immediate positive impact on judicial decision-making. I need you to:
- Impress upon President Biden the need to nominate a strong progressive black woman and move swiftly to her confirmation
- Co-sponsor and push for passage of the Judiciary Act of 2021 which will add four Justices to the Supreme Court.
Script for Kurt Schrader (OR-05)
Salem office: 503-588-9100 | DC office: 202-225-5711
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)
The radical right has taken over the Supreme Court. Restoring its integrity requires adding additional judges, but swiftly confirming a highly qualified, progressive black woman will have an immediate positive impact on judicial decision-making. I need you to:
- Impress upon President Biden the need to nominate a strong progressive black woman and move swiftly to her confirmation
- Co-sponsor and push for passage of the Judiciary Act of 2021 which will add four Justices to the Supreme Court.
ACTION 3: “GOOD TROUBLE”
Below are opportunities to fight for our democracy. As John Lewis said, make some “good trouble.”
Join Indivisible Oregon.
Join the fight to reform the Supreme Court by volunteering with Demand Justice,
Learn about persuasive language and communication research at the Zoom ASO Movement Briefings every second Wednesday.
Join the campaign to hold the House and Senate at GiveNoGround.org
Work to protect democracy in the House by replacing retiring US Representative Peter DeFazio with another Democrat, replacing Democrat Kurt Schrader, the “Manchin of the House,” with a progressive, and electing a Democrat in Oregon’s new Congressional District 6.
Demand your primary news source stop creating false equivalencies and just report the truth.
Check out the Poor People's Campaign Readies 'Massive, Nonviolent' Effort to Save Democracy
Outside of Portland? Check out COIN Oregon.
Center for Common Ground is starting new Reclaim Our Vote campaigns: TEXAS Primary is First! Writing to 730,000 Black registered voters in Texas, urging them to vote in the upcoming March 1st Primary. Only 1 in 25 Texas voters participate in primaries. Postcards For Texas with Center for Common Ground. And phone banks!
Fridays at 4 - Letter and Postcard Writing — Indivisible Oregon.
FURTHER READING:
The year Supreme Court conservatives made their mark
The Supreme Court is leading a Christian conservative revolution
Commentary: The radical right’s takeover of the Supreme Court is complete
Americans no longer have faith in the US supreme court. That has justices worried
The idea of expanding the Supreme Court to blunt its right-wing bias gains traction
Opinion: Biden’s Supreme Court nominee should be a criminal defense lawyer
