| Friend, A bombshell report by the New York Times shows that Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito met with right-wing lobbyists before deciding on landmark cases, including those concerning abortion and contraception.(1) This news comes on top of the revelations that Justice Thomas intervened in cases involving the attempt to overturn the 2020 election -- in which his wife was involved.(2) And just this week, Justice Brett Kavanaugh tried to push a bogus theory that would give state legislatures unlimited power over election results.(3) The Supreme Court has gone rogue, and this corruption must not stand. Courage California has joined a coalition of advocacy organizations to demand that the Senate hold hearings on the Supreme Court's actions.
Rulings by this Court striking down abortion rights, voting rights protections, common-sense state and local gun regulations, federal efforts to combat climate change, and more -- against the will of the people -- have shaken the American people’s confidence in the Court and our democracy overall. The basic tenet of the Court is that the Justices' deliberations are confidential and they are above influence by special interests. But that's not what is happening with this Court's extreme right wing. A whistleblower has revealed that Justice Samuel Alito may have leaked confidential information about a pending contraception case to the groups’ wealthy donors. Justice Amy Coney Barrett sat for oral arguments in a case being litigated by an organization that has paid her for at least five speaking engagements since 2011. Justices Alito and Brett Kavanaugh met with the head of an anti-LGBTQIA+ group that had filed a brief in a case for which the Court heard oral arguments less than three weeks earlier. It is long past time for the justices to be held accountable -- and that can begin with a full investigation by the U.S. Senate into ethical lapses and accusations of corruption at the Supreme Court. Sign our petition calling on Senate hearings today!
Yours in the fight for ethical government, Irene, along with Annie, Isidra, Lindsay, Mai, Mai, Raquel, and Scottie (and the rest of the Courage team) Footnotes:  |
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