Majority Opinions: Issue #5 – Power [Back] To the People
Welcome back to Majority Opinions, a new resource from United for Democracy offering regular updates, analysis, and tools for the proceedings underway and the work ahead.
As we inch closer to the Supreme Court’s decision season, with a number of highly-charged cases on the docket, it’s important to remind ourselves why this work is so important – and the impact we all can have if we double down on it in the months ahead.
If there’s one thing that’s become crystal clear these past few years, it’s that conservatives are far ahead when it comes to translating Americans’ displeasure over Supreme Court decisions into winning issues in their campaigns and top priorities for their elected officials. Progressives are far behind on this work, but we have an opportunity to turn this around – and we can’t afford to let it go to waste.
We must spend these next months shouting from the rooftops: President Trump and his MAGA allies created and empowered this broken and corrupt Supreme Court, and if you don’t like what they’re doing to our country – you have the power to change it.
Yesterday we saw a great example of this in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania as teachers, students, advocates, workers, and community leaders joined together to raise awareness of how the broken Supreme Court has eliminated our right to abortion, made it harder to prevent school shootings, allowed massive corporations to pollute our air and water, helped politicians suppress people's votes, and so much more — all while accepting lavish 'gifts' from their billionaire donors. And with one strong voice, these Pennsylvanians called on Congress to stop this relentless power grab – and fix the broken Court.
Today’s issue of Majority Opinions is dedicated to uplifting key voices and their perspectives on how they believe the movement should connect these dots for people across the country, why that is so important, and what is at stake. Because we – all of us – have the power to make sure the MAGA Republicans who own this broken and corrupt Supreme Court are held accountable in ways that will make a real difference this year, next year, and beyond. And we are so excited to stand by your side for this critical work in the months ahead.
- Stasha Rhodes, Campaign Director of United For Democracy
Republicans control the Supreme Court. It’s time to make them own it.
By: Jamison Foser, Progressive strategist and an advisor to Take Back The Court Action Fund
Republican appointees have constituted a majority of the Supreme Court for 55 consecutive years, and – thanks to an unprecedented scheme by Mitch McConnell and the GOP that resulted in Donald Trump appointing fully a third of the current court – now hold a 6-3 supermajority on the court. From gutting voting rights to overturning Roe v Wade’s guarantee of abortion rights, the Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority acts as both the legal department and policy department of the RNC, helping Republicans win elections and imposing their narrow ideological agenda on the rest of us even when they lose. Republicans are fully in control of the Supreme Court, and they’re using it ruthlessly.
Now Democrats must make Republicans own the court electorally, too – by campaigning aggressively against the Supreme Court and making clear Republican candidates are responsible for the court’s deeply unpopular decisions that hurt everyday Americans and its flagrant corruption that gives the justices’ billionaire benefactors exclusive VIP access.
The court as an institution is deeply unpopular among a broad swath of the electorate: Disapproval of the Supreme Court exceeds 60 percent among Democrats, Independents, liberals, and moderates – everyone except Republicans, more than 60 percent of whom approve of the court. Individual justices – particularly Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Samuel Alito – make for classic campaign villains, issuing cruel and unpopular decisions while hobnobbing with billionaires on all-expenses-paid luxury vacations. All of that adds up to a rare opportunity for Democrats to appeal to the left and the center simultaneously with an aggressive campaign critique of the Supreme Court. It can be both a persuasion and a turnout message – and because Republican candidates and voters like the court and revere justices like Clarence Thomas, GOP candidates can’t easily co-opt or duck such a critique.
Most importantly, campaigning against the Supreme Court complements the Democrats’ key campaign themes and messages, from issues like abortion and environmental protection to government corruption to democracy. Telling voters the truth about how the GOP uses the courts to seize and wield power is a way to hold accountable Republican politicians who deploy the courts to do their dirty work – and it can even add credibility to Democrats’ policy solutions.
Take abortion for example. The GOP’s desperate attempts to run and hide from their own past actions and future plans to ban abortion illustrate both the benefits of campaigning against the court and the risks of failing to do so. A recent Data for Progress poll found that while half of likely voters hold the Supreme Court responsible for new abortion bans, only a third hold state and congressional Republicans responsible and a mere 24 percent hold Trump responsible – not much more than the 14 percent who hold Joe Biden responsible.
Telling voters clearly and consistently what the Supreme Court and other GOP-dominated courts have done to dismantle abortion rights – and that Republicans packed the courts for that exact reason – can help ensure voters know who to hold accountable. And by vowing to reform and democratize the court, Democrats can show they take the harm the court has done seriously and have solutions sufficient to the scale of the problem. Responses to harmful court decisions like codifying Roe or passing a new Voting Rights Act are important steps to slow the right-wing assault on our rights – but because they are subject to judicial review by the same court, they aren’t sufficient. If the only responses Democrats offer to the court’s harmful decisions are solutions that are themselves vulnerable to the right-wing court, Democrats risk appearing short-sighted and weak to some voters. By campaigning against the court, and embracing court reform, they can show they take the harm the court does seriously, and are prepared to do what is necessary to reverse it.
The right-wing Supreme Court has already done immeasurable harm to the American people – just as the GOP intended. Democrats have already benefited from voter outrage about some of the court’s decisions, particularly on abortion. In order to maximize that benefit, they must leave no doubt that the court is simply an arm of the Republican Party, doing what Republicans running for office intended it to do.
18th-Century Democracy Doesn’t Work For Our 21st-Century Country
By: Steph Sterling, Executive Director of Democracy Revival Center
Our political system is broken. We’re not just encountering some turbulence. The problem isn’t simply that our elected leaders aren’t good enough. It’s not even just former President Trump, the MAGA movement, or their very real threats of authoritarianism. It’s far bigger than that – and until we address the widening cracks in the foundation of our political system, with solutions that match the scale of the problem, it’s only going to get worse.
The Supreme Court is a perfect example of how our 18th century democracy is simply no longer working for our 21st century country. When the Dobbs ruling was handed down in 2022, people across the country were shocked. Even those of us who had been fighting for reproductive rights for years, and who knew something like this was coming, were forced to grapple with the impact this ruling would have on millions of people across the country–and what it meant for the political system far too many of us had thought we could count on to protect our rights.
The Dobbs ruling may have been this Supreme Court’s most high-profile case, but it was not the only case even that year in which the extreme majority made a mockery of our democracy. During the 2021 term, the Court issued Bruen, which invented a new constitutional right to carry a gun. They struck down environmental regulations by creating a new doctrine, the “major questions doctrine,” which the Supreme Court can now use to invalidate virtually any regulation significant enough to generate political contestation. And in the years since, those attacks have and will only continue – on voting rights, on workers’ rights to organize, LGBT+ rights, and so much more.
This Supreme Court supermajority is able to rewrite our nation’s laws and overrule the will of the people despite the fact that half of them were nominated by a president who lost the popular vote and confirmed by a Senate majority that represented significantly fewer Americans than the minority. And when this illegitimate majority eliminated the right to abortion, they had the gall to declare in their decision that, in the name of democracy, “it is time to return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
The reality is that we have a political system that consistently fails to translate the will of the people into policy. Our current political system gives white, rural voters disproportionate power and dilutes the power of Black and Latino voters. It gives undue power to an authoritarian minority and makes it harder for the feminist, multiracial majority we’ve become to enact our popular agenda. It is structurally biased towards the interests of the wealthy elite and prevents the working class from claiming their fair share of the economy. And, with the help of this Supreme Court majority, it’s breaking down faster and faster – and hurting more and more people as it does.
Americans know that something is deeply wrong. According to recent polling, only 4% of Americans say the political system is working extremely or very well. Nearly three-quarters say it isn’t working well or at all. And 85% of Americans believe the political system needs major changes or to be entirely reformed.
So we are in a moment when the American people are open to a conversation about our broken Supreme Court and the cracks in our democracy’s foundation that allowed its majority’s extreme and unpopular agenda to be imposed upon us. We shouldn’t shy away from this or offer solutions that wouldn’t credibly meet the scale of the problem. We must demand action – to reform this broken Supreme Court, to fix the cracks in the foundations of our democracy, and to return power to the people it’s been stolen from.
Stop The Relentless Power Grab: Virtual Community Kickoff. Join organizers, advocates, and community members from across the country on Wednesday, April 24 at 8:00 pm ET to leverage the power in our collective voice and demand our members of Congress show they stand with us, not the MAGA justices, by committing to fix the broken and corrupt Court. Spread the word with our toolkit here, RSVP here, and tune in here.
May SCOTUS Coordinating Call. Join United For Democracy for our monthly, off-the-record Coordinating Call on Wednesday, May 15, at 12:30 pm ET to get the toplines on what’s moving at the Court and how you can engage.
Messaging the Moment:
Since then-President Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court, the MAGA supermajority has overturned abortion rights, weakened voter access, blocked student loan relief, made it harder to fight the climate crisis, easier to put guns back in our communities, and so much more.
Now, the Supreme Court’s MAGA supermajority threatens to use their power to rewrite the rules in favor of special interests, billionaires, and major corporations — helping the ultra rich get richer and the powerful gain more power — at the expense of the American people. This is a relentless power grab in action.
We deserve better — a Court that serves as the protector of our democracy, guardian of our fundamental freedoms, and that puts our communities above the profits and political agendas of an elite few. And better is possible.
Congress has a choice: Stand with their constituents by committing to fix the Supreme Court OR stand with the MAGA justices by enabling them to do more harm to our communities.
Stop the relentless power grab. Power back to the people.
Tweeting the Moment.
With three Trump-appointed justices, the Supreme Court is rewriting the rules to help the ultra rich & powerful get richer & more powerful.
The American people are done paying the price of this #RelentlessPowerGrab.
It's time Congress commits to fixing the broken Court.
#JusticeCantWait. As the Supreme Court prepares to hear Trump v. United States — the immunity case the justices should have never agreed to hear — add your voice to the call for a ‘decision by May 20 to ensure justice delayed does not become democracy destroyed.’ On Thursday, April 25 join Women’s March at 9:30 am outside the Supreme Court for their Feminists v. Fascists rally and participate in Court Accountability’s online day of action by posting on social media with the help of this toolkit.
Abortion Always, Abortion Is Health Care. Join the National Women’s Law Center outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 24 at 9:00 am to protect EMTALA (The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act) and call to safeguard pregnant individuals’ rights to access emergency abortion care. RSVP here.
Housing Not Handcuffs. Today, the Supreme Court will hear Johnson v. Grants Pass, which will decide whether cities can arrest and fine people for things like sleeping outside with a pillow or blanket, even when there are no safe shelter options. Join The National Homelessness Law Center and the National Coalition for the Homeless outside the Court today at 10:00 am for their main rally. RSVP here.
Hill Happenings. Senate Majority Leader Schumer led the introduction of the End Judge Shopping Act; Chairman Dick Durbin’s Senate Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Leonard Leo; and Senator Joe Manchin shared his support for Supreme Court term limits. This comes as the Supreme Court prepares to issue its decisions in a series of cases — including many sent up from the Fifth Circuit, which functions as the shining example of judge shopping under Trump-appointee Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk — that could further strip Americans of our rights and freedoms.
Medical Providers Perspective. Last week, the Center for American Progress hosted a discussion with physician storytellers from Idaho and Ohio on the criminalization of abortion care, the future of EMTALA, and how the interference of the U.S. Supreme Court in their daily medical practice has changed their personal and professional lives. Watch here.
Stop the Relentless Power Grab. Protect Our Freedoms and Families. On Sunday, April 21, Action Together NEPA brought neighbors, teachers, students, advocates, workers, and community leaders together for a rally in Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, PA. During the event, speakers shared their stories about the impact that Supreme Court decisions have had on their families and communities, and called on Congress to fix the Court. Check out photos from the event here.
The New York Times, Laura Riley, April 21, 2024: “Do Not Make Survival Even More Difficult for People on the Streets”
Huffpost, Alanna Vagianos, April 21, 2024: “The Supreme Court Is About To Debate Whether States Can Outlaw Life-Saving Abortions”
USA Today, Maureen Groppe, April 20, 2024: “On the heels of historic Volkswagen union vote, Starbucks asks Supreme Court to curb labor's power”
The Washington Examiner, Kaelan Deese, April 18, 2024: “McConnell’s ‘force of will’ shaped the federal judiciary”
The American Prospect, Hassan Ali Kanu, April 15, 2024: “America’s Fifth Circuit Problem”
CNN, Melissa Quinn, April 15, 2024: “Supreme Court allows Idaho to enforce ban on gender-affirming care for nearly all transgender minors for now”
Vox, Ian Milhiser, April 15, 2024: “The Supreme Court effectively abolishes the right to mass protest in three US states”
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