WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate voted to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority.

Marcus Bass, Just Democracy coalition leader and Deputy Director of the North Carolina Black Alliance, issued the following statement in response:

“Judge Coney Barrett’s rushed and illegitimate confirmation process further proves how desperately our nation needs court reform. A 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court will devastate Black and Brown communities and endanger everything central to our fight for racial justice — including voting rights, reproductive justice, and health care. 

Coney Barrett has declared herself a proud originalist, meaning that she will interpret our Constitution as it was written, when most Black Americans like me were considered property, not people. Originalism is racist, and to achieve justice and equality for communities of color, we cannot continue living by 18th century values.

We need structural democracy reform to protect the rights of Black and Brown people — that includes expanding and rebalancing the Supreme Court — but we can’t stop there. Our entire federal judiciary is skewed against the interests of Black and Brown people with over 200 Trump-appointed right-wing justices. Judge Coney Barrett’s confirmation is just the latest symptom of our broken, unrepresentative court system, and we need bold reform to ensure that equal justice is served.”

 

About Just Democracy

Just Democracy is an intersectional coalition with racial justice at its core — uplifting voices from all walks of American life that are too often left out of the conversation. The coalition is made up of over 30 progressive organizations and counting, working across issue areas. It mobilizes thousands who know that advancing social and racial justice issues first requires bold structural democracy reform.

To speak with a Just Democracy spokesperson, please email press@justdemocracy.us.

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