U.S : PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SUPREME COURT NOMINEE.

Mitch McConnell vowed to block the President's SCOTUS Nominee.

Will you sign our petition to stop him ?

Dear friend, 

News of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing had just surfaced when Senate Republicans began promising to obstruct President Obama’s next Supreme Court appointee.¹ By vowing to block any person that President Obama nominates to take the position, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell has essentially ensured that any senator who follows history, tradition and the constitution by considering the President’s nominees will find themselves in a fight for their career. 

We have to fight this. With the docket so heavily loaded with high-stakes cases, we don’t have a choice. What hangs in the balance? The Supreme Court cases currently in the docket include access to birth control and abortion services, the rights of workers to organize, the chance to halt unjust deportations of immigrants and the very existence of affirmative action as a legal policy.² With so much on the line, we are launching a special rapid response campaign to fight for this nominee. 

We can’t let Senate Republicans hold our government hostage. Will you join our fight?

It doesn’t take a constitutional law expert to understand that after being elected into this office by voters--twice--President Obama should retain all the authority historically provided to presidents to nominate a person for the Supreme Court of the United States. If Senate Republicans truly intend to block the appointment of a new Supreme Court Justice, they would reinforce their current reputation as the least democratic institution of our nation’s government. 

History often repeats itself, and we’ve seen this kind of ugly political attack regarding a Supreme Court confirmations before. The supposed precedent that McConnell and other senators are invoking is so rooted in racism that it is known in political circles as simply “the Thurmond Rule,” named after segregationist Strom Thurmond, and much of the rhetoric used today can be traced back to his obstinate opposition of President Johnson’s appointment of Abe Fortas--a Jewish man--as Chief Justice in 1968.³ 

Senate Republicans are following a racist script. Sign now to urge them to allow a SCOTUS confirmation.

It’s not just this Supreme Court seat at stake. The next president may have the chance to nominate as many as three Supreme Court justices. We want to see Black people--and in particular, Black women--on the shortlist of consideration for who should be entrusted to make decisions on behalf of our country. That’s why once we are done fighting the current battle over filling the vacant seat on the Court, we plan to pivot to the Democratic presidential candidates, and press them on their cabinet plans and their knowledge of nomination-worthy legal scholars and public servants. We’re laying the groundwork for a more diverse government in every branch. 

But first, we have to help President Obama get his appointment confirmed for the Supreme Court. Are you ready?

In solidarity,

Rashad, Arisha, Brandi, Brittaney, Bernard, Evan and the entire ColorOfChange team.

References:

1. “More Republicans Say They’ll Block Supreme Court Nomination,” New York Times, 2-15-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5855?t=7&akid=5385.1942551.V0kJF1

2. “The Simply Breathtaking Consequences of Justice Scalia’s Death,” Think Progress 2-13-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5856?t=9&akid=5385.1942551.V0kJF1

3. “GOP Cyncism on the Supreme Court Reaches a New Low,” The Daily Beast, 2-14-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5857?t=11&akid=5385.1942551.V0kJF1

4. Biographies of the Robe: Thurgood Marshall,” PBS, December 2006
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5858?t=13&akid=5385.1942551.V0kJF1