Thread by @QasimRashid

As SCOTUS preps to repeal Roe—despite 72% of Americans favoring Roe—Clarence Thomas says "We cant be an institution that can be bullied into giving you just the outcomes you want." SCOTUS has *never* reflected the American people & have often blocked what Americans want

Thread
1

1857: Dred Scott v. Sanford

SCOTUS ruled 7-2 that Black people are subhuman & therefore can't be citizens. This prevented any peaceful solution to ending slavery and likely further enabled the eventual Civil War in which 600,000 soldiers died.

2/

1883: The Civil Rights Cases

SCOTUS ruled (8–1) that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was unconstitutional, and that the 13th & 14th Amendment didn't provide equal protection to Black people. Hence Jim Crow laws were valid. This barbarity would stay on the books until 1964.

3/

1896: Plessy v. Ferguson

SCOTUS ruled (7-1) that mandatory racial segregation was not in violation of the 14th Amendment. This further advanced Black codes, Jim Crow, economic & educational disenfranchisement, and strengthened the KKK and white supremacy.

SCOTUS did that.

4/

1918: Hammer v. Dagenhart

SCOTUS ruled (5-4) that Congress could not ban child labor in intrastate commerce. They called it a "states rights" issue. Sound familiar? As you see labor cases come before SCOTUS today, remember their history of enabling child labor & child abuse.

5/

1923: Thind v. United States

SCOTUS ruled (9-0) that though a Sikh named Bhagat Thind was Aryan per USA's then definition of white, he did not meet a "common sense" definition of white, & could NOT be a citizen. This also helped uphold a 1924 TOTAL ban on Asian immigration.

6/

1927: Buck v. Bell

SCOTUS ruled (8-1) upholding a Virginia eugenics law targeting Black people. States nationwide would then adopt this law & more than 60,000 Black women, men, & kids as young as 10 were forcibly sterilized.

As of 2022 Buck v. Bell is still valid precedent

7/

1944: Korematsu v. United States

SCOTUS ruled (6-3) upholding FDR's EO 9066 to forcibly intern 120K Japanese Americans. America was also at war with Germany & Italy—but only Japanese Americans suffered mass arrest & deprivation of property. All while USA fought Nazi fascism.

8/

1986: Bowers v. Hardwick

SCOTUS ruled (5-4) upholding a Georgia statute criminalizing even private LGBT relationships. Though finally overruled in Lawrence v Texas in 2005, anti-sodomy laws still exist in several states.

9/

2000: Bush v. Gore

SCOTUS ruled (7-2) in favor of GW Bush, handing him the presidency. This was despite Al Gore winning the popular vote by more than 500K votes. Bush then bankrupted our surplus, cut billionaire taxes, left America trillions in debt, & waged 2 failed wars.

10/

2008: Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker

SCOTUS ruled (5-3) to protect Exxon from punitive damages in which a drunk operator spilled 11M gallons into an ecological sensitive sound. SCOTUS dropped the fine from $5B to $500M, boosting Exxon's value $23B. Alito owned Exxon stock.

11/

2010: Citizens United v. FEC

SCOTUS ruled (5-4) that the First Amendment protects political donations as "free speech," opening elections to billions in dark money to buy and sell politicians. 75% of Americans oppose this ruling, but SCOTUS does not care.

12/

2013: Shelby County v. Holder

SCOTUS ruled (5-4) to gut Voting Rights Act—specifically provisions that prevented historically discriminatory states/counties from disenfranchising BIPOC voters. After Shelby, red states closed 100s of polling locations in BIPOC neighborhoods

13/

2016: Utah v. Strieff

SCOTUS ruled (5-3) to permit police to admit evidence, even if it was procured by illegal searches—despite 4th Amendment ban on illegal Govt searches. This ruling particularly targets BIPOC communities who face 6-9 times higher charge/arrest rates.

/14

2018: Trump v. Hawaii

SCOTUS ruled (5-4) to uphold Trump's racist & discriminatory "Muslim Ban." A ban he admitted was designed to cause as much harm as possible, & one he could not prove had any national security value. So much for US Constitution's ban on religious tests.

/15

2021: Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I

SCOTUS ruled (8-1) that children kidnapped, enslaved and forced to go to Ivory Coast to produce for American corporate giants like Nestle, could not sue Nestle for damages for enabling child slave labor. Yeah, it's as horrific as it sounds.

/16

I could go on but I hope you take these 3 lessons from this thread.

1. This horror is why meaningful representation matters. 94% of SCOTUS justices have been white men, most of whom were white supremacists interested less in justice and more in preserving white supremacy.

17/

2. This is why we should expand the Court to 13. It was set to 9 when there were 9 districts. Now there are 13, so fairness and precedent makes the expansion logical. "Radical" is to keep it this small. Let's add meaningful American representation to the Court ASAP.

18/

3. We can both be angry at Dems for not doing enough, and recognize we can keep doing more to vote out extremists & corp bought GOP & Dems, and vote in people who fight for working families. Vote, organize, donate, activate, let's protect our democracy w/justice.

Finally...

/19

I'm taking action & have launched Common Purpose PAC to elect progressive, people funded, & underrepresented women & BIPOC candidates.

We need our electeds to look like America. $5 or $500 or $5000—we need & welcome your support.

Donate Here: secure.actblue.com/donate/support…

/20

Most of all, we need your voice. SCOTUS will change when we make it change. Let's kill apathy & instead activate & organize. Sign up for our email list to stay involved: actionnetwork.org/forms/together…

If you found value in this thread—give a follow & hit RT. Let's get to work.☮️

21/21