Dear friends,

Today, the United States Senate voted 52 - 48 to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, despite an accelerated process, a national election underway, and vague, incomplete answers from the nominee on critical issues, including climate science.

This rushed process of broken promises in the middle of an election to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who served for 27 years and changed the course of our nation for women, and for all of us, does not further justice. While we knew her wishes were for her seat to be filled by the next elected President, Justice Ginsburg surely would have told us to persevere. And we will. We are undeterred and determined more than ever to ensure that the constitutional rights of our nation’s youth are protected. 

As Senator Kamala Harris stated during the hearings: “The United States Supreme Court is often the last refuge for equal justice when our constitutional rights are being violated.” Children who cannot vote have no voice in our electorate or political process. Thus, our courts have the solemn and singular duty to protect the constitutional rights of our children. We will not rest until the legal right to a stable climate is declared and protected for all of our young people.

While today’s vote does not reflect the will of the people, we are once again inspired by our community of engaged citizens who stand up for justice and we want to thank you all for your support. Many of you contacted your senators and urged members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to ask the nominee questions on children’s rights and to clarify her understanding of climate science and whether she would respect credible scientific evidence in cases before her. Because of your persistence, we got their attention.

During a 30-hour debate on the Senate floor which spanned from yesterday to today, we saw something we've never seen before during the confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee: more than 15 senators - including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer - raised the issue of climate change, the most pressing issue of our time that will one day go before the Supreme Court.

During the Judiciary Committee’s four-day hearing, eight Democratic senators asked climate science questions and/or submitted written questions to the record for a response by Judge Barrett. We are grateful to these senators, especially Senators Whitehouse and Booker, for submitting a number of questions proposed by Our Children’s Trust to the record. We were dissatisfied by Judge Barrett's responses which deflected her views on climate science and we appreciate these senators pressing the issue with her. 

Our efforts to protect children’s fundamental rights to a safe climate system are more important each and every day, and critical decisions are pending in our cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Alaska Supreme Court, the Washington Court of Appeals, the Federal Court in Canada, and in many more cases and legal actions underway. Please make a donation today to help us continue to support and represent these brave young people who are fighting for their rights in courts around the world.
 

As always, we thank you for your support,

The Team at Our Children’s Trust