CONGRESSIONAL CHAMPIONS CALL FOR SUPREME COURT EXPANSION FOLLOWING RIGHT-WING JUSTICES’ ATTACKS ON OUR RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (July 19, 2022) — This term, the Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority repealed some of the most crucial rights and protections won in the 20th century. In the wake of these attacks, Take Back the Court Action Fund joined nine congressional champions — including Sen. Ed Markey and Reps. Hank Johnson, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Mondaire Jones, Sheila Jackson Lee, Andy Levin, Jan Schakowsky, Mark Takano, and Rashida Tlaib — and a slate of progressive organizations at the U.S. Capitol to renew calls to pass the Judiciary Act and expand the Supreme Court in order to protect our rights, our futures, and our democracy.

Here’s what they said:

“Radical right-wing Justices are undermining justice for millions of Americans – from the frontline environmental justice communities whose right to clean air has been jeopardized; to the families whose safety from the scourge of gun violence has been undermined; to the millions of women, pregnant people, LGBTQ+ communities, rural and low-income Americans, and people of color across our country whose right to abortion care and privacy has been curtailed,” said Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.). “We can’t stand by as a stolen Supreme Court steals the rights of millions of Americans, we must pass my Judiciary Act into law. Expanding the Court is constitutional. Congress has done it before and Congress must do it again.”

“The critical issues that impact our day-to-day lives – such as voting and civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate justice, and consumer and workers’ rights – are being decided by a GOP-packed conservative supermajority on a United States Supreme Court, which is destroying its own legitimacy with partisan decisions that are upending decades of precedent and progress in this nation,” said Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet. “I want to thank all the members and groups who came out today in support of The Judiciary Act – a bill to expand the Supreme Court that I was proud to introduce last year along with Chairman Jerry Nadler, Rep. Mondaire Jones and Sen. Ed Markey. The need to expand the Court is necessary to safeguard the liberties of all who live in this country.”

“If we do not act NOW, this Court will take every opportunity to strip away the fundamental freedoms we once took for granted,” said Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12). “It’s time to restore this institution’s legitimacy. It’s time to balance the bench. It’s time to pass the Judiciary Act and expand the Supreme Court. I call on my colleagues to join us and co-sponsor the Judiciary Act. I call on everyone listening to contact their member of Congress and make sure they know how you feel. Our freedom, our democracy, our nation’s future depends on it.”

“This Supreme Court is hostile to basic rights and freedoms, and it is hostile to democracy itself. The question is: What the hell is Congress going to do about it?” said Congressman Mondaire Jones (NY-17). “Congress has changed the size of the Court seven times before in our nation’s history, and we must expand the Court today to protect our rights and to defeat the rise of fascism. Nothing except restoring balance and integrity to the institution behind us will stop the Court’s rampage from continuing.”

“As a cosponsor of H.R. 2584, the Judiciary Act, I support the expansion of the Court to 13 justices, providing a path to restore the judicious balance that is crucial to the Court,” said Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18). “American society in no small measure is the result of over two centuries of Supreme Court decisions. Today, Justices on the court wrongly rejected 50 years of precedence and want to radically alter American society. The post-Roe America can become a more frightening place. Justice Clarence Thomas did not hesitate to tell us what his vision is as described in his opinion in the recent Dobbs case; all rights of privacy and equal protection of the law may be obliterated. Throughout American history, the number of justices has changed over half a dozen times and has ranged from as little as 5 to as many as 10. The number of judges on the Supreme Court need not be nine. No quota is written in the Constitution. Expanding the court would reflect the United States as it is, not as it once was since the last expansion of the court.”

“Our democracy is hanging by a thread. I have said it before, and I will say it again—America is supposed to be a secular democracy, NOT a theocracy,” said Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09). “The Supreme Court is advancing an egregious agenda and imposing their personal political beliefs on all of us rather than following any mainstream interpretation of our country’s laws. We cannot assume for a second that this court is done. We must take very seriously Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion that argued the court should also reconsider landmark rulings granting the rights of contraception, same-sex intimacy and marriage equality. Enough is enough! We can’t accept the court’s far-right majority’s continued assault on human rights. I will not tolerate a society where my 17-year-old daughter enjoys fewer freedoms than her mother and grandmothers.”

“The rogue Supreme Court has made no secret of their plan to go after fundamental human rights,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09). “We have a chance to protect Americans' freedoms, but it is going to take bold action. The number of Justices on the Court is not set in stone. We can do this if we have the courage, the stamina, and the will to get it done. Too much is at stake. Everything that we care about is on the line. We must rebalance the Court to reflect the priorities and desires of the American people and to ensure the Court rules consistently with the laws and precedent that govern this great nation.”

“The Supreme Court has gone rogue. It has become a radical institution that does not reflect the will of the people. We need the Judiciary Act of 2021 to expand the number of Justices on the Court to 13 and preserve the rule of law,” said Congressman Mark Takano (CA-41).

“The U.S. Supreme Court is unhinged and making decisions not reflective of the majority of the American people,” said Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13). “The Judiciary Act of 2021 is critical at this moment. SCOTUS has been changed seven times before to meet the moment in history. This out-of-step Supreme Court that is imposing minority rule while stripping us of critical rights that will certainly lead to harm. We must expand the Supreme Court because communities like ours need us to move with urgency as our civil rights are systematically stripped with every ruling. We must continue to work together to ensure our democracy continues to thrive and advocate for marginalized communities - the Judiciary Act is a huge step in that direction.”

“Our path forward is clear: we must expand the Court. That’s what it will take to truly protect abortion access and our other fundamental rights, and to preserve our democracy,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, executive director of Take Back the Court Action Fund. “To the members of Congress who have been leading this fight, I say, ‘thank you — from the bottom of my heart.’ To everyone else I have to ask: what more are you waiting for?”