Hey Indivisibles,

It’s Meagan Hatcher-Mays here, and I just wanted to give you a brief update on the Supreme Court's most recent ruling in Alabama and what we can do moving forward.

On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed a racially gerrymandered congressional map from Alabama to stand, which significantly diluted the political power of Black Alabamians. . This is voter suppression at its finest -- Black voters make up more than a quarter of the state’s population, yet they were effectively consolidated into one congressional district. 

This decision is more proof that the conservative majority is irredeemable. The conservatives are using the levers of justice to achieve favorable political outcomes for Republicans, and they aren't being particularly subtle about it. In addition to gutting voting rights, the Court has also recently ruled in favor of rolling back vaccine mandates, workers’ rights, and repealing reproductive rights. Fortunately, there are  solutions to these problems we are facing:

1. We must confirm a new justice to the Court as soon as possible. 
2. We must unrig the courts by expanding the Supreme Court.

While I am super excited that President Biden has committed to nominating the first-ever Black woman to the Supreme Court, one new Supreme Court justice won’t do much to address the court’s ongoing legitimacy crisis. Urgent threats require urgent solutions, and in this case, that means we need to add seats to the Supreme Court – after speedily confirming a new justice. 

With that, here’s how you can get involved in the fight:

1. If you have a Democratic senator, click here to call them and demand that they speak out publicly and remind Biden of his commitment. President Biden has committed to nominating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to be Justice Breyer's replacement, and we need to ensure he moves quickly in this process -- it took just 8 days for Trump to nominate Amy Coney Barrett, and we cannot risk any delays or setbacks.
2. If you have a Republican senator (or no senators at all!), click here to call the White House comment line and remind Biden of his commitment yourself. There is so much at stake here, and we need to make sure that Justice Breyer’s legacy is upheld through his replacement.
3. Call your senator, and demand they co-sponsor the Jones Expansion Bill. Every single issue we care about will be challenged in court. That’s why we must act now to unrig our courts before it’s too late. Check to see if your representative is a co-sponsor on the Judiciary Act of 2021, and if they’re not, call them and demand they sign onto the bill. Once you are done, click here to call your senators and demand they co-sponsor the Jones Expansion Bill as well.

This is the moment when we need to step up and do what it takes to promote representation on the Supreme Court and protect the constitutional rights of those who’ve fought so hard for them. As always, there is no one else I would rather be in this fight with than you. 

In solidarity,

Meagan Hatcher-Mays, Director of Democracy Policy

Indivisible