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In a sign of enduring hope and respect, many held photos of MLK at the 60th commemoration of the March on Washington.
It is disheartening to see the very tools of social change activism used by the civil rights movement getting ruthlessly dismantled thanks to the self-interest and greed of politicians and corporations.
Six Decades Ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the March on Washington, turning the tide of public opinion and leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
That legacy of protest and advocacy continues today but it is under attack, which is why we must be honest and critical as we reflect on the current status of civil rights and activism in the U.S.
As always, during this time of year when we honor Dr. King’s legacy and plan to celebrate Black History Month, we see a great deal of platitudinal quotes and simplified portrayals along with an underlying tone of proverbial pats on our collective backs for a job well done, for progress.
Dr. King’s life was tragically taken in Tennessee, and now, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, representing the same state, chooses to tarnish his legacy by undermining the spirit of democracy and activism that he dedicated his life for.
As an activist and community organizer, collective action in the form of protest was Dr. King’s primary tool. What would he make of the government reprisals we see across the globe against protesters? As a gifted orator and preacher, he used his voice as a catalyst for mobilizing people and shifting culture. What would he say about the proliferation in censorship and other tactics of repression and regressive policies?
We ask these questions because by doing so we are able to pave another path toward justice and a world that truly upholds the legacy of the civil rights movement. The attacks on dissent and free speech that we are seeing today are heartbreaking, but there’s also the tremendous will of people who refuse to give up, a resilience and staying power that is reminiscent of the civil rights movement.
Increasingly, protest is becoming a less viable instrument for social change and holding powerful entities such as elected officials, police, and corporations accountable. From the persecution of Cop City protesters in Georgia to the widespread attempts to squash civil disobedience, a strategy that Dr. King came to see as the necessary tool of the oppressed, we are witnessing a crisis unfold for social change organizing.
Thanks to the lobbying power of big corporations and police unions, hundreds of anti-protest bills have been introduced in the United States since 2017 in nearly all 50 states to interfere in the long legacy of American protest, with policies ranging from dramatically increased civil fines for protesters and criminal penalties for specific forms of protest.
Last week, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), introduced S. 3492, a federal bill that would create penalties for protesters who block or “attempt” or “conspire” to block public roads and highways. The “Safe and Open Streets Act” would essentially make the long-held practice of collective action in our nation’s history a crime punishable by a fine of an unspecified amount and incarceration in a federal prison for up to five years. The pretext of safety and open streets cannot overshadow the potential abuse and selective enforcement that is inherent in this and other anti-protest legislation.
The Equity Alliance, a Tennessee-based grassroots organization that works to build Black political power and where Tequila is the CEO, finds bitter irony in the fact that Dr. King’s life was tragically taken in Tennessee, and now, Blackburn, representing the same state, chooses to tarnish his legacy by undermining the spirit of democracy and activism that he dedicated his life for.
How far have we come if more than five decades after Selma, we are seeing protesters against Cop City, a multiplex police training facility in Georgia, being charged as domestic terrorists?
But this is not unique to the United States; individual freedoms are getting abrogated across the world. Countries such as Argentina and many countries across Europe are also seeing a steady and consistent effort by their governments to prevent people from speaking up, taking action, and putting pressure on their elected officials to listen to the will of the people.
More recently, we have seen a worldwide crackdown on protests against the war in Gaza, which also runs counter to the principles that Dr. King espoused around global solidarity. A year before his death, he famously made a speech at Riverside Church in New York City entitled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” in which he not only denounced the war but also the censorship of free speech. Moreover, Dr. King sought international connections and solidarity with movements for freedom across the globe from anti-colonialist struggles in Africa to the movement for Dalit freedom in India.
The ripple effects of right-wing repressive policies that we are seeing today along with the attacks on dissent and the severe injuries caused by the overuse of “less lethal weapons” against protesters would also be deeply disconcerting to him. The violent attacks on protesters by police forces and individuals invested in upholding the status quo would likely serve as a reminder of the brutality that came upon civil rights protesters in Selma in 1965 and the violence inflicted on Black bodies by white individuals for hundreds of years. How far have we come if more than five decades after Selma, we are seeing protesters against Cop City, a multiplex police training facility in Georgia, being charged as domestic terrorists?
Defending Rights and Dissent, a D.C.-based organization that works to strengthen participatory democracy and the right to political expression and where Sue is the executive director, has been tracking the settlements from police departments in the aftermath of the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising. Police departments from across the country have paid out over $113 million to protesters that were harmed by police. We imagine this underhanded admission of culpability would be troubling to Dr. King because, on the one hand, yes, protesters have more legal recourse than protesters had during his time, but this is yet another reminder of the unchecked power of law enforcement and the continued and disproportionate violence inflicted on Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
And yet despite all these setbacks to progress and injustice, we believe that Dr. King would have been heartened by the millions of people around the world who refuse to be silenced. This is encouraging and surely a vestige of the influence that he and so many other social change movement leaders of the past set in motion for future generations.
Realistically speaking, we know the euphemistic arc toward freedom has been more of a zigzag line across history. The struggle for freedom and belonging is part of human existence; it is an unavoidable part of life. However, it is disheartening to see the very tools of social change activism used by the civil rights movement getting ruthlessly dismantled thanks to the self-interest and greed of politicians and corporations.
This time of year as we make time to honor Black freedom fighters, we must commit to a truthful assessment of where we are in carrying the torch of justice that Dr. King set aflame for the world and recommit to reigniting it by pushing back on all attempts to repress people power.
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Six Decades Ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the March on Washington, turning the tide of public opinion and leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
That legacy of protest and advocacy continues today but it is under attack, which is why we must be honest and critical as we reflect on the current status of civil rights and activism in the U.S.
As always, during this time of year when we honor Dr. King’s legacy and plan to celebrate Black History Month, we see a great deal of platitudinal quotes and simplified portrayals along with an underlying tone of proverbial pats on our collective backs for a job well done, for progress.
Dr. King’s life was tragically taken in Tennessee, and now, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, representing the same state, chooses to tarnish his legacy by undermining the spirit of democracy and activism that he dedicated his life for.
As an activist and community organizer, collective action in the form of protest was Dr. King’s primary tool. What would he make of the government reprisals we see across the globe against protesters? As a gifted orator and preacher, he used his voice as a catalyst for mobilizing people and shifting culture. What would he say about the proliferation in censorship and other tactics of repression and regressive policies?
We ask these questions because by doing so we are able to pave another path toward justice and a world that truly upholds the legacy of the civil rights movement. The attacks on dissent and free speech that we are seeing today are heartbreaking, but there’s also the tremendous will of people who refuse to give up, a resilience and staying power that is reminiscent of the civil rights movement.
Increasingly, protest is becoming a less viable instrument for social change and holding powerful entities such as elected officials, police, and corporations accountable. From the persecution of Cop City protesters in Georgia to the widespread attempts to squash civil disobedience, a strategy that Dr. King came to see as the necessary tool of the oppressed, we are witnessing a crisis unfold for social change organizing.
Thanks to the lobbying power of big corporations and police unions, hundreds of anti-protest bills have been introduced in the United States since 2017 in nearly all 50 states to interfere in the long legacy of American protest, with policies ranging from dramatically increased civil fines for protesters and criminal penalties for specific forms of protest.
Last week, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), introduced S. 3492, a federal bill that would create penalties for protesters who block or “attempt” or “conspire” to block public roads and highways. The “Safe and Open Streets Act” would essentially make the long-held practice of collective action in our nation’s history a crime punishable by a fine of an unspecified amount and incarceration in a federal prison for up to five years. The pretext of safety and open streets cannot overshadow the potential abuse and selective enforcement that is inherent in this and other anti-protest legislation.
The Equity Alliance, a Tennessee-based grassroots organization that works to build Black political power and where Tequila is the CEO, finds bitter irony in the fact that Dr. King’s life was tragically taken in Tennessee, and now, Blackburn, representing the same state, chooses to tarnish his legacy by undermining the spirit of democracy and activism that he dedicated his life for.
How far have we come if more than five decades after Selma, we are seeing protesters against Cop City, a multiplex police training facility in Georgia, being charged as domestic terrorists?
But this is not unique to the United States; individual freedoms are getting abrogated across the world. Countries such as Argentina and many countries across Europe are also seeing a steady and consistent effort by their governments to prevent people from speaking up, taking action, and putting pressure on their elected officials to listen to the will of the people.
More recently, we have seen a worldwide crackdown on protests against the war in Gaza, which also runs counter to the principles that Dr. King espoused around global solidarity. A year before his death, he famously made a speech at Riverside Church in New York City entitled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” in which he not only denounced the war but also the censorship of free speech. Moreover, Dr. King sought international connections and solidarity with movements for freedom across the globe from anti-colonialist struggles in Africa to the movement for Dalit freedom in India.
The ripple effects of right-wing repressive policies that we are seeing today along with the attacks on dissent and the severe injuries caused by the overuse of “less lethal weapons” against protesters would also be deeply disconcerting to him. The violent attacks on protesters by police forces and individuals invested in upholding the status quo would likely serve as a reminder of the brutality that came upon civil rights protesters in Selma in 1965 and the violence inflicted on Black bodies by white individuals for hundreds of years. How far have we come if more than five decades after Selma, we are seeing protesters against Cop City, a multiplex police training facility in Georgia, being charged as domestic terrorists?
Defending Rights and Dissent, a D.C.-based organization that works to strengthen participatory democracy and the right to political expression and where Sue is the executive director, has been tracking the settlements from police departments in the aftermath of the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising. Police departments from across the country have paid out over $113 million to protesters that were harmed by police. We imagine this underhanded admission of culpability would be troubling to Dr. King because, on the one hand, yes, protesters have more legal recourse than protesters had during his time, but this is yet another reminder of the unchecked power of law enforcement and the continued and disproportionate violence inflicted on Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
And yet despite all these setbacks to progress and injustice, we believe that Dr. King would have been heartened by the millions of people around the world who refuse to be silenced. This is encouraging and surely a vestige of the influence that he and so many other social change movement leaders of the past set in motion for future generations.
Realistically speaking, we know the euphemistic arc toward freedom has been more of a zigzag line across history. The struggle for freedom and belonging is part of human existence; it is an unavoidable part of life. However, it is disheartening to see the very tools of social change activism used by the civil rights movement getting ruthlessly dismantled thanks to the self-interest and greed of politicians and corporations.
This time of year as we make time to honor Black freedom fighters, we must commit to a truthful assessment of where we are in carrying the torch of justice that Dr. King set aflame for the world and recommit to reigniting it by pushing back on all attempts to repress people power.
Six Decades Ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the March on Washington, turning the tide of public opinion and leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
That legacy of protest and advocacy continues today but it is under attack, which is why we must be honest and critical as we reflect on the current status of civil rights and activism in the U.S.
As always, during this time of year when we honor Dr. King’s legacy and plan to celebrate Black History Month, we see a great deal of platitudinal quotes and simplified portrayals along with an underlying tone of proverbial pats on our collective backs for a job well done, for progress.
Dr. King’s life was tragically taken in Tennessee, and now, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, representing the same state, chooses to tarnish his legacy by undermining the spirit of democracy and activism that he dedicated his life for.
As an activist and community organizer, collective action in the form of protest was Dr. King’s primary tool. What would he make of the government reprisals we see across the globe against protesters? As a gifted orator and preacher, he used his voice as a catalyst for mobilizing people and shifting culture. What would he say about the proliferation in censorship and other tactics of repression and regressive policies?
We ask these questions because by doing so we are able to pave another path toward justice and a world that truly upholds the legacy of the civil rights movement. The attacks on dissent and free speech that we are seeing today are heartbreaking, but there’s also the tremendous will of people who refuse to give up, a resilience and staying power that is reminiscent of the civil rights movement.
Increasingly, protest is becoming a less viable instrument for social change and holding powerful entities such as elected officials, police, and corporations accountable. From the persecution of Cop City protesters in Georgia to the widespread attempts to squash civil disobedience, a strategy that Dr. King came to see as the necessary tool of the oppressed, we are witnessing a crisis unfold for social change organizing.
Thanks to the lobbying power of big corporations and police unions, hundreds of anti-protest bills have been introduced in the United States since 2017 in nearly all 50 states to interfere in the long legacy of American protest, with policies ranging from dramatically increased civil fines for protesters and criminal penalties for specific forms of protest.
Last week, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), introduced S. 3492, a federal bill that would create penalties for protesters who block or “attempt” or “conspire” to block public roads and highways. The “Safe and Open Streets Act” would essentially make the long-held practice of collective action in our nation’s history a crime punishable by a fine of an unspecified amount and incarceration in a federal prison for up to five years. The pretext of safety and open streets cannot overshadow the potential abuse and selective enforcement that is inherent in this and other anti-protest legislation.
The Equity Alliance, a Tennessee-based grassroots organization that works to build Black political power and where Tequila is the CEO, finds bitter irony in the fact that Dr. King’s life was tragically taken in Tennessee, and now, Blackburn, representing the same state, chooses to tarnish his legacy by undermining the spirit of democracy and activism that he dedicated his life for.
How far have we come if more than five decades after Selma, we are seeing protesters against Cop City, a multiplex police training facility in Georgia, being charged as domestic terrorists?
But this is not unique to the United States; individual freedoms are getting abrogated across the world. Countries such as Argentina and many countries across Europe are also seeing a steady and consistent effort by their governments to prevent people from speaking up, taking action, and putting pressure on their elected officials to listen to the will of the people.
More recently, we have seen a worldwide crackdown on protests against the war in Gaza, which also runs counter to the principles that Dr. King espoused around global solidarity. A year before his death, he famously made a speech at Riverside Church in New York City entitled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” in which he not only denounced the war but also the censorship of free speech. Moreover, Dr. King sought international connections and solidarity with movements for freedom across the globe from anti-colonialist struggles in Africa to the movement for Dalit freedom in India.
The ripple effects of right-wing repressive policies that we are seeing today along with the attacks on dissent and the severe injuries caused by the overuse of “less lethal weapons” against protesters would also be deeply disconcerting to him. The violent attacks on protesters by police forces and individuals invested in upholding the status quo would likely serve as a reminder of the brutality that came upon civil rights protesters in Selma in 1965 and the violence inflicted on Black bodies by white individuals for hundreds of years. How far have we come if more than five decades after Selma, we are seeing protesters against Cop City, a multiplex police training facility in Georgia, being charged as domestic terrorists?
Defending Rights and Dissent, a D.C.-based organization that works to strengthen participatory democracy and the right to political expression and where Sue is the executive director, has been tracking the settlements from police departments in the aftermath of the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising. Police departments from across the country have paid out over $113 million to protesters that were harmed by police. We imagine this underhanded admission of culpability would be troubling to Dr. King because, on the one hand, yes, protesters have more legal recourse than protesters had during his time, but this is yet another reminder of the unchecked power of law enforcement and the continued and disproportionate violence inflicted on Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
And yet despite all these setbacks to progress and injustice, we believe that Dr. King would have been heartened by the millions of people around the world who refuse to be silenced. This is encouraging and surely a vestige of the influence that he and so many other social change movement leaders of the past set in motion for future generations.
Realistically speaking, we know the euphemistic arc toward freedom has been more of a zigzag line across history. The struggle for freedom and belonging is part of human existence; it is an unavoidable part of life. However, it is disheartening to see the very tools of social change activism used by the civil rights movement getting ruthlessly dismantled thanks to the self-interest and greed of politicians and corporations.
This time of year as we make time to honor Black freedom fighters, we must commit to a truthful assessment of where we are in carrying the torch of justice that Dr. King set aflame for the world and recommit to reigniting it by pushing back on all attempts to repress people power.
"Bureau of Labor Statistics data is what determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits," said Rep. John Larson. "It should alarm everyone when a yes-man determined to end Social Security is installed in this position."
U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to replace the top labor statistics official he fired earlier this month has called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" that needs to be "sunset," comments that critics said further disqualify the nominee for the key government role.
During a December 2024 radio interview, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni said it is a "mathematical fiction" that Social Security "can go on forever" and called for "some kind of transition program where unfortunately you'll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes, but never actually receive any of those benefits."
"That's the price to pay for unwinding a Ponzi scheme that was foisted on the American people by the Democrats in the 1930s," Antoni continued. "You're not going to be able to sustain a Ponzi scheme like Social Security. Eventually, you need to sunset the program."
Trump's choice for the Commissioner of the Bureau Labor Statistics called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" in an interview:
" What you need to do is have some kind of transition program where unfortunately you'll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes, but… pic.twitter.com/MXL7k1C644
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) August 12, 2025
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), one of Social Security's most vocal defenders in Congress, said Antoni's position on the program matters because "Bureau of Labor Statistics data is what determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits."
"It should alarm everyone when a yes-man determined to end Social Security is installed in this position," Larson said in a statement. "I call on every Senate Republican to stand with Democrats and reject this extreme nominee—before our seniors are denied the benefits they earned through a lifetime of hard work."
Trump announced Antoni's nomination to serve as the next commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) less than two weeks after the president fired the agency's former head, Erika McEntarfer, following the release of abysmal jobs figures. The firing sparked concerns that future BLS data will be manipulated to suit Trump's political interests.
Antoni was a contributor to the far-right Project 2025 agenda that the Trump administration appears to have drawn from repeatedly this year, and his position on Social Security echoes that of far-right billionaire Elon Musk, who has also falsely characterized the program as a Ponzi scheme.
During his time in the Trump administration, Musk spearheaded an assault on the Social Security Administration that continues in the present, causing widespread chaos at the agency and increasing wait times for beneficiaries.
"President Trump fired the commissioner of Labor Statistics to cover up a weak jobs report—and now he is replacing her with a Project 2025 lackey who wants to shut down Social Security," said Larson. "E.J. Antoni agrees with Elon Musk that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme and said that middle-class seniors would be better off if it was eliminated."
"This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves," said one Amnesty campaigner.
After leaked drafts exposed the Trump administration's plans to downplay human rights abuses in some allied countries, including Israel, the U.S. Department of State released the final edition of an annual report on Tuesday, sparking fresh condemnation.
"Breaking with precedent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not provide a written introduction to the report nor did he make remarks about it," CNN reported. Still, Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA's national director of government relations and advocacy, called him out by name in a Tuesday statement.
"With the release of the U.S. State Department's human rights report, it is clear that the Trump administration has engaged in a very selective documentation of human rights abuses in certain countries," Klasing said. "In addition to eliminating entire sections for certain countries—for example discrimination against LGBTQ+ people—there are also arbitrary omissions within existing sections of the report based on the country."
Klasing explained that "we have criticized past reports when warranted, but have never seen reports quite like this. Never before have the reports gone this far in prioritizing an administration's political agenda over a consistent and truthful accounting of human rights violations around the world—softening criticism in some countries while ignoring violations in others. The State Department has said in relation to the reports less is more. However, for the victims and human rights defenders who rely on these reports to shine light on abuses and violations, less is just less."
"Secretary Rubio knows full well from his time in the Senate how vital these reports are in informing policy decisions and shaping diplomatic conversations, yet he has made the dangerous and short-sighted decision to put out a truncated version that doesn't tell the whole story of human rights violations," she continued. "This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves."
"Failing to adequately report on human rights violations further damages the credibility of the U.S. on human rights issues," she added. "It's shameful that the Trump administration and Secretary Rubio are putting politics above human lives."
The overarching report—which includes over 100 individual country reports—covers 2024, the last full calendar year of the Biden administration. The appendix says that in March, the report was "streamlined for better utility and accessibility in the field and by partners, and to be more responsive to the underlying legislative mandate and aligned to the administration's executive orders."
As CNN detailed:
The latest report was stripped of many of the specific sections included in past reports, including reporting on alleged abuses based on sexual orientation, violence toward women, corruption in government, systemic racial or ethnic violence, or denial of a fair public trial. Some country reports, including for Afghanistan, do address human rights abuses against women.
"We were asked to edit down the human rights reports to the bare minimum of what was statutorily required," said Michael Honigstein, the former director of African Affairs at the State Department's Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor. He and his office helped compile the initial reports.
Over the past week, since the draft country reports leaked to the press, the Trump administration has come under fire for its portrayals of El Salvador, Israel, and Russia.
The report on Israel—and the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—is just nine pages. The brevity even drew the attention of Israeli media. The Times of Israel highlighted that it "is much shorter than last year's edition compiled under the Biden administration and contained no mention of the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli forces have slaughtered over 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local officials—though experts warn the true toll is likely far higher. As Israel has restricted humanitarian aid in recent months, over 200 people have starved to death, including 103 children.
The U.S. report on Israel does not mention the genocide case that Israel faces at the International Court of Justice over the assault on Gaza, or the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The section on war crimes and genocide only says that "terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah continue to engage in the
indiscriminate targeting of Israeli civilians in violation of the law of armed conflict."
As the world mourns the killing of six more Palestinian media professionals in Gaza this week—which prompted calls for the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting—the report's section on press freedom is also short and makes no mention of the hundreds of journalists killed in Israel's annihilation of the strip:
The law generally provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, and the government generally respected this right for most Israelis. NGOs and journalists reported authorities restricted press coverage and limited certain forms of expression, especially in the context of criticism against the war or sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza.
Noting that "the human rights reports have been among the U.S. government's most-read documents," DAWN senior adviser and 32-year State Department official Charles Blaha said the "significant omissions" in this year's report on Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank render it "functionally useless for Congress and the public as nothing more than a pro-Israel document."
Like Klasing at Amnesty, Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN's executive director, specifically called out the U.S. secretary of state.
"Secretary Rubio has revamped the State Department reports for one principal purpose: to whitewash Israeli crimes, including its horrific genocide and starvation in Gaza. The report shockingly includes not a word about the overwhelming evidence of genocide, mass starvation, and the deliberate bombardment of civilians in Gaza," she said. "Rubio has defied the letter and intent of U.S. laws requiring the State Department to report truthfully and comprehensively about every country's human rights abuses, instead offering up anodyne cover for his murderous friends in Tel Aviv."
The Tuesday release came after a coalition of LGBTQ+ and human rights organizations on Monday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department over its refusal to release the congressionally mandated report.
This article has been updated with comment from DAWN.
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," said the head of Common Cause.
As Republicans try to rig congressional maps in several states and Democrats threaten retaliatory measures, a pro-democracy watchdog on Tuesday unveiled new fairness standards underscoring that "independent redistricting commissions remain the gold standard for ending partisan gerrymandering."
Common Cause will hold an online media briefing Wednesday at noon Eastern time "to walk reporters though the six pieces of criteria the organization will use to evaluate any proposed maps."
The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group said that "it will closely evaluate, but not automatically condemn, countermeasures" to Republican gerrymandering efforts—especially mid-decade redistricting not based on decennial censuses.
Amid the gerrymandering wars, we just launched 6 fairness criteria to hold all actors to the same principled standard: people first—not parties. Read our criteria here: www.commoncause.org/resources/po...
[image or embed]
— Common Cause (@commoncause.org) August 12, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Common Cause's six fairness criteria for mid-decade redistricting are:
"We will not sit idly by while political leaders manipulate voting maps to entrench their power and subvert our democracy," Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said in a statement. "But neither will we call for unilateral political disarmament in the face of authoritarian tactics that undermine fair representation."
"We have established a fairness criteria that we will use to evaluate all countermeasures so we can respond to the most urgent threats to fair representation while holding all actors to the same principled standard: people—not parties—first," she added.
Common Cause's fairness criteria come amid the ongoing standoff between Republicans trying to gerrymander Texas' congressional map and Democratic lawmakers who fled the state in a bid to stymie a vote on the measure. Texas state senators on Tuesday approved the proposed map despite a walkout by most of their Democratic colleagues.
Leaders of several Democrat-controlled states, most notably California, have threatened retaliatory redistricting.
"This moment is about more than responding to a single threat—it's about building the movement for lasting reform," Kase Solomón asserted. "This is not an isolated political tactic; it is part of a broader march toward authoritarianism, dismantling people-powered democracy, and stripping away the people's ability to have a political voice and say in how they are governed."