Thread by @jamisonfoser

This is why Roberts Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act: To make it harder for people, particularly black people, to vote. It's such an obvious consequence of gutting the Voting Rights Act that it cannot be an accident.

https://twitter.com/RonBrownstein/status/1270444086793650176

Reminder:

https://twitter.com/jamisonfoser/status/1197237489657737216

Voting lines in Georgia highlight the role the Supreme Court, which gutted the Voting Rights Act, plays in the GOP assault on democracy.

@350 @PresenteOrg @sunrisemvmt @foe_us @BeAHeroTeam @WeDemandJustice @TakeBacktheCt have a solution: court expansion.
politico.com/news/2020/06/1…

Simple facts:
* Republicans stole a Supreme Court seat in an unprecedented power grab
* The Court’s conservative majority is an active participant in GOP efforts to impose minority rule on America
* Court expansion is the fastest, best remedy and necessary to enable other reform

Read the new statement by @TakeBacktheCt @350 @sunrisemvmt @foe_us @BeAHeroTeam @WeDemandJustice @PresenteOrg & Progressive Change Institute calling for expansion of the Supreme Court.

It's good and important.

---> static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce33e8…

BTW when I say court expansion is necessary to enable other reform, I mean other court reforms like term limits -- but also all kinds of other reforms, from HR 1 to a new Voting Rights Act, all of which are vulnerable to the Kavanaugh Court.

https://twitter.com/jamisonfoser/status/1271122404341805056?s=20

Whatever your favorite democracy reform is -- and I have a *whole bunch* -- there's a necessary sequence if you want to both enact and preserve them.
1) Get rid of filibuster
2) expand the Supreme Court
3-100) Lots of other good stuff

If a Dem Senate doesn't ditch filibuster, it won't pass meaningful democracy reforms, so that's step one. If we don't expand the Supreme Court (which gutted the *Voting Rights Act*) it won't let any meaningful democracy reforms survive. So that's step 2.

This is extremely clear.

A lot of people want there to be One Neat Trick That Fixes Democracy—ending Citizens United or HR 1 or whatever.

But the mess we’re in is a lot more complicated than that. The whole system is broken in mutually-reinforcing ways. We need a *lot* of reforms, and sequence matters.

Yesterday, 8 progressive organizations announced support for expanding the Supreme Court.

TODAY, @TakeBacktheCt, @IndivisibleTeam & @WeDemandJustice announce a June 30 Supreme Court protest featuring @SenWarren @aliciagarza @wkamaubell @danpfeiffer @VarshPrakash

Stay tuned.

@TakeBacktheCt @IndivisibleTeam @WeDemandJustice @SenWarren @aliciagarza @wkamaubell @danpfeiffer @VarshPrakash For decades, conservatives have used the judiciary to entrench themselves as a ruling minority party by gutting the Voting Rights Act and workers’ rights, upholding gerrymandering, and flooding our elections with corporate money. They even stole a Supreme Court seat.

Enough.

John Roberts cast deciding votes in Heller (gutting the Voting Rights Act), Janus (hobbling labor), Citizens United (allowing unlimited corporate spending on elections).

Roberts has done as much as anyone to entrench minority rule by conservatives.

https://twitter.com/politico/status/1291370960042459137

sorry, that should be Shelby County, not Heller. It's early(ish) on the west coast and I haven't had (enough) coffee.

PSA: If you’re typing up Mike Pence’s attack on John Roberts without noting that Roberts cast deciding votes gutting the Voting Rights Act, opening the floodgates to corporate spending on elections & weakening unions — thus enabling conservative minority rule — that’s stenography

Mike Pence is attacking John Roberts despite Roberts' central role in rulings (gutting Voting Rights Act, Citizens United, Janus, etc) that help conservatives govern via minority rule because conservatives never stop fighting for control of the Court. Progressives must match them

Important context for Pence's attacks on John Roberts:

Conservatives think Roberts is feeling pressure from left & trying to stave off calls for Supreme Court reform by moderating his decisions this year. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

Pence's attack on Roberts is intended to
1) keep pressure on Roberts from the Right
2) undermine progressive calls for Supreme Court reform that would undo the GOP's theft of a Court seat.

But it's all disingenuous. Roberts is a reliable ally in Pence/GOP's quest for power.

There's also an important election context to this:

Back in April, Roberts & the Supreme Court issued a ruling making it harder for people to vote in Wisconsin. Pence wants to make sure Roberts keeps helping disenfranchise voters as November approaches.

crooked.com/articles/supre…