A conservative revolution is happening in the U.S.--but most Americans haven't even heard about it.
While the media's attention has been focused on Donald Trump's latest tweet and his impeachment, the Supreme Court quietly put together a list of cases to hear this session that could dismantle rights for women, the LGBTQ community, people of color, and workers.1
The court has already begun hearing arguments, and all signs are pointing toward a wave of ultra-conservative decisions that will wipe out protections for vulnerable populations.
UltraViolet was created to defend the very rights that the Supreme Court cases are threatening, and we're not going to stand idly by. We're organizing rallies at the court, and we're campaigning to pass laws in Congress so that our most fundamental rights aren't left in the hands of Brett Kavanaugh and four other conservative men on the court.
The Supreme Court is asked to review more than 7,000 cases each year, and the justices only hear about 2% of those.2 When the court chooses cases that already have established precedent, it gives the justices a chance to challenge or even overturn that precedent.
Of the thousands of cases that the Court was asked to hear, these are a few of the small percentage that the Justices chose to decide this year :3
- Whether or not LGBTQ people are protected under workplace discrimination law
- If the Supreme Court upholds Trump's dangerous move to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)--the successful program that enables immigrant youth who arrived in the U.S. as children to live and work without fear
- Whether adolescent offenders should be subject to life sentences
- If the law protecting independent workers from race discrimination should be weakened
- If states can establish impossible-to-meet requirements for abortion clinics, basically gutting Roe v. Wade
The LGBTQ arguments have already started, and the conservative justices already seem to be leaning toward denying gay and transgender people protections under current workplace discrimination laws.4
And Brett Kavanaugh was specifically brought to the court to take down Roe v. Wade, so we can guess how he'll vote about the clinic shutdown law.
Because of the decisions of just nine people, by this time next year, 800,000 DACA recipients could be subject to deportation. Children could regularly be sentenced to life in prison. Corporations could be allowed to discriminate against people for their sexual orientation and race and get away with it. And Roe v. Wade could be, as Mike Pence put it, in the "ash heap of history."
UltraViolet was established to fight discrimination and create a more inclusive, equal world, and we're not going to let the Supreme Court strike down our rights without a fight. We need the resources to mobilize rapid-response actions to put continuous pressure on the court to speak for the people, not corporations and the Trump administration. And we're pushing Congress to pass laws to enshrine these rights and take it out of the Kavanaugh court's hands.
Thank you for joining in.
Shaunna, Kat, Kathy, Anathea, Maria, Melody, Lindsay, Pam, Sonja, Kimberly, JoEllen, and Sy, the UltraViolet Action team.
Sources :
1. This Supreme Court Term Will Launch a Conservative Revolution, Slate, October 4, 2019
2. About the Supreme Court, United States Courts, accessed October 25, 2019
3. This Supreme Court Term Will Launch a Conservative Revolution, Slate, October 4, 2019
4. Supreme Court Considers Whether Civil Rights Act Protects L.G.B.T. Workers, The New York Times, October 8, 2019
