November, 01 2021, 09:44am EDT
Ahead of Oral Arguments in Blockbuster Cases, 'Unrig the Courts' Tells Congress: Pass the Judiciary Act to Protect Us from Supreme Court's Right-Wing Supermajority
Broad Coalition of Supreme Court Expansion Advocates Calls on Congress to Add Four Seats to SCOTUS
WASHINGTON
As the Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments this week on S.B. 8--the draconian abortion ban recently enacted by Texas Republicans--and a case that threatens to gut commonsense gun safety laws nationwide, Supreme Court expansion advocates are calling on Congress to pass the Judiciary Act swiftly to restore balance to the Court and protect our constitutional rights and freedoms.
The Unrig the Courts coalition released the following statement today ahead of oral arguments:
"This term, the Supreme Court is set to prove that its form no longer fits its function. For years, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump schemed to stack the court with right-wing political appointments in a long-con effort to roll back our rights. Because of their scheme, the court has become so overrun by its radical conservative supermajority that it is now electing to hear cases aimed at overturning long-settled rights and freedoms--but not because the law or the Constitution demand it. It should frighten all of us that the Supreme Court is actively attacking settled constitutional doctrine to achieve partisan political outcomes."With reproductive freedom and the right to live free from gun violence on the docket this term, the stakes could not be higher. The truth is, only powerful elites like those on the bench will be safe from the conservative supermajority's war on our rights and freedoms--the rest of us, especially those of us who are already marginalized by the courts system, have too much to lose."It's time for Congress to intervene in this Trump-stacked court's assault on our constitutional rights, and pass the Judiciary Act."
Coalition members supporting this statement include: Stand Up America, Demand Justice, Indivisible, Take Back the Court, Center for Popular Democracy Action, People's Parity Project, Demos Action & Just Democracy
The Unrig the Courts coalition is a collection of progressive organizations, including Demos Action, Just Democracy, People's Parity Project, Stand Up America, Take Back the Court, as well as Indivisible. The coalition is dedicated to restoring balance to the federal courts through a series of judicial reforms, most importantly Supreme Court expansion.
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to strengthen our democracy and oppose Trump's corrupt agenda, Stand Up America has driven over 600,000 phone calls to Congress and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors across the country.
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While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
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Wednesday's vote followed the House sending the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act to the Senate. H.R. 7888 would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless spying on noncitizens abroad but also sweeps up Americans' data.
The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Project on Surveillance Oversight, also praised the House's FANFSA passage on Wednesday.
"The passage of the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale underscores the extent to which reining in abusive warrantless surveillance is a bipartisan issue," Scott said. "We urge the Senate to take up this measure and close the data broker loophole."
Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU, similarly said Wednesday that "the bipartisan passage of this bill is a flashing warning sign to the government that if it wants our data, it must get a warrant."
Hamadanchy added that "we hope this vote puts a fire under the Senate to protect their constituents and rein in the government's warrantless surveillance of Americans, once and for all."
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As The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw noted:
Since 2011, the U.N. Security Council has rejected the Palestinian Authority's request for full member status. On April 2, the Palestinian Observer Mission to the U.N. requested that the council once again take up consideration of its membership application. According to the first State Department cable, U.N. meetings since the beginning of April suggest that Algeria, China, Guyana, Mozambique, Russia, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, and Malta support granting Palestine full membership to the U.N. It also says that France, Japan, and Korea are undecided, while the United Kingdom will likely abstain from a vote.
Along with the United States, China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom are permanent members of the UNSC, so they also have veto power.
Ahead of Thursday's planned vote, Spain has been doing its own lobbying in Europe to build greater support for Palestinian statehood. At a joint Tuesday press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said the question is "when, not if, but when is the best moment to recognize Palestine."
Belgium—which is seeking economic sanctions against Israel in response to its genocidal war on Gaza—is expected to join Spain's push for Palestinian statehood after the country's European Union presidency expires in June.
Currently, 139 of the U.N.'s 193 member states recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who has also claimed to support a so-called "two-state solution"—has alternately boasted about thwarting Palestinian statehood.
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PI calls it an "illicit network undermining democracy around the world."
"Today is a mask-off moment for the Reactionary International and the parties, politicians, judges, journalists, foundations, think tanks, tech platforms, NGOs, activists, financiers, and entrepreneurs that comprise it," PI said.
"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.
"The twin insurrections at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Brasília's Three Powers Plaza in 2023 left no doubt about the international coordination of reactionary forces," PI argued. "Yet far too little is known about the entities of this network, their sources of financing, and their institutional allies operating inside our political systems."
Ultimately, PI aims to "support democratic systems to become more resilient to their insidious tactics."
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