In a democracy, the judiciary should reflect the public it serves. We appreciate how the Biden Administration and Democratic Senators have pursued that goal by confirming the most demographically and professionally diverse set of judicial candidates in history. That includes an unprecedented number of public defenders, most notably new Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. They did this by front-loading nominations focusing on courts with no Republican senators, and leveraging Democrats’ slim but united Senate majority.
Trump’s judicial appointments were overwhelmingly male (76 percent) and blindingly white (84 percent). They followed the well-established Republican practice: George W. Bush’s appointees were 78 percent male and 82 percent white. George H.W. Bush’s were 81 percent male and 90 percent white. And Ronald Reagan’s were 92 percent male and 94 percent white. These were courts of white men, by white men, for white men. America is more diverse than that and deserves courts whose makeup reflects the nation’s.
Contact your Senators and thank them for working with President Biden to give us a judicial branch that looks and functions more like our beautifully diverse country, and encourage them to do even more.
Tell Our Senators to Protect the Most Personal of Life Choices
Last week, the US House of Representatives passed two important pieces of legislation: the Respect for Marriage Act, which guarantees that same-sex marriages are recognized by the federal government and remain valid throughout the US, and the Right to Contraception Act, which protects access to birth control and the right to use it. Both bills are headed now for the Senate.
Given that the Respect for Marriage Act garnered 47 Republican votes in the House, the Democrat-led Senate must bring it to the floor for a vote ASAP. If Republican Senators filibuster this legislation supported by over 71% of Americans, they should do so on the record. Protecting the right to same-sex marriage with federal law is even more critical now that Justice Thomas, in his concurrent opinion last month in the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, has made it clear that other Supreme Court precedents are endangered, including the Obergefell decision from 2015 which required all states to recognize same-sex marriages.
Following last month’s disastrous Dobbs decision, extremist Republican state legislatures are likely to come after access to contraception next. The ability to prevent pregnancy is a matter of both health and economic justice, and is a fundamental freedom allowing people to make their own decisions about their own bodies and lives. A federal law protecting access to it is urgently needed to counter attempts at reactionary anti-sex legislation at the state level.
Contact your Senators and tell them: Co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage Act and the Right to Contraception Act, and work in the Senate to ensure their passage.
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If you’re interested in participating in activities like drafting letters to our Members of Congress and developing our strategy for influencing them, the Indivisible SF Federal Working Group is where it happens. Our next meeting is on Thursday, July 28. Details on how to register below.
ISF Federal Working Group meeting: Thursday, July 28, 7:30–9 PM. Register here to join our regular Zoom meeting, where we work together to develop strategies for influencing our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to support a progressive agenda. All are welcome to participate and contribute, even if you’ve never attended an ISF meeting before.
Activism Fair at Manny’s: Friday, July 29, 5–7 PM. Come to Manny’s summer activism fair to find out how to get involved with local organizations making change in our community. RSVP here.
Bay Area Coalition Phone Banks: Wednesdays and Saturdays. Help our friends at Swing Left talk to voters about the upcoming primaries and midterms. Join Swing Left and the Bay Area Coalition on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings to make calls to voters in California and around the nation. Sign up for a shift:
- TODAY, Wednesday, July 27, 5–7 PM
- Saturday, July 30, 10 AM–12 PM
- Wednesday, Aug. 3, 5–7 PM
Voter registration drive in the California Central Valley with Swing Left: Saturdays. Swing Left needs your help registering voters in Central Valley CD-13 and CD-22, from Modesto to Bakersfield. They will conduct door-to-door and COVID-safe canvassing to register voters every weekend until Tuesday, November 8. Sign up here:
- Saturday, July 30, 9 AM–3:30 PM
- Saturday, Aug. 6, 9 AM–3:30 PM
- Saturday, Aug. 13, 9 AM–3:30 PM
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on Twitter and Facebook, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue. Today’s image is a photo of James R. Browning U.S. Court of Appeals at Mission and 7th here in San Francisco, taken by Carol M. Highsmith.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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