Thread by @acslaw

Day 3 of #ACS2020 is about to begin! Today's panel will focus on a progressive agenda for 2021 and beyond. Opening remarks from @AGEllison, followed by @russfeingold, Ann Carlson, @KristenClarkeJD, @ksabeelrahman, and @RiaTabaccoMar. Streaming now: acslaw.org/2020-acs-natio…

Introducing @AGEllison's remarks is ACS Next Generation Leader Saraswati Singh, who notes that the Minneapolis community is in pain and shows us that racial injustice is embedded into the very fabric of our society and we want no more of it.

.@AGEllison notes that "we need to build an ethic that going into the judiciary is a noble and positive pursuit" and we need good judges and diversity on the bench.

See more our Diversity of the Bench project: acslaw.org/judicial-nomin… #CourtsMatter

.@AGEllison: If lawyers and members of ACS are willing to dig in and be part of this reform movement, we can make real change.

.@KristenClarkeJD grounds our conversation in the current moment, when state-sanctioned violence is being carried out by the highest levels of government. "Protest occupies central place in our democracy and needs to be a right we lift up in this moment."

Recounting the violent dispersal of protesters in DC, @KristenClarkeJD talks about the work @LawyersComm has done to defend #BlackLivesMatter protesters, and why protecting this speech is so important. See their lawsuit: lawyerscommittee.org/civil-rights-l…

In this moment, @ksabeelrahman argues, our ambition has to be more than just reform and nibbling around the edges. When it comes to our economy, we should be aspiring to a vision of liberation, particularly focusing on Black and Brown communities.

.@RiaTabaccoMar lays out the many ways in which a generation of women, particularly women of color, are being squeezed at every end in this pandemic.

"There is a need for structural responses to these structural problems. How can we use this moment to think about safety and cooperation in a way that doesn't pit us against each other"? #ACS2020

Ann Carlson from @Emmett_UCLALaw asks: How can we think about confronting climate change in ways that uplift the most vulnerable communities?

When it comes to tackling climate change, Ann Carlson tells us "we need to think big. We need to think boldly. We need to be ambitious. And we've done it before! We can look to the success of the Clean Air Act, which was very ambitious for the time."

When thinking about a progressive agenda, our panelists remind us that we need to be thinking about how to change the balance of power so we shift toward a more democratic society and allow for more change and reform.

The right to vote is the bedrock from which all these other civil rights arise, says @KristenClarkeJD. We must breathe life back into the movement to reinvigorate the VRA so that we can keep a check on states that are bent on suppressing the rights of voters.

If we get that right we will see government that reflects more appropriately the diversity of our nation.