#THREAD ON #SCOTUSreform: The SCt has played a central role in both the expansion & constriction of fundamental rts & freedoms. Its indiscipline in adhering to precedent & avoiding improprieties has caused a nat’l crisis in public confidence. Finally, a sitting pres responds. 1/5 We are deeply gratified Pres. Biden has made SCOTUS reform a central component of his exit legacy, reinforcing his transformative work to diversify & uplevel the fed judiciary & furthering the critical work of the Presidential Comm'n on the Supreme Court of the United States. 2/5

Today, Netanyahu gave a false & disturbingly dangerous description of nonviolent protest in the U.S. b4 a joint session of Congress. Peaceful protests are a longstanding activism tradition essential to our democracy & fully protected by our constitution-not to be weaponized. 1/10 Researchers have documented that 95% of the 1,090 recent campus protests this year were peaceful. Yet, in 200 cases, law enforcement intervened when no violent or destructive activity by protesters was reported. 2/10bridgingdivides.princeton.edu/updates

The indefensible #AlexandervSouthCarolina decision reminds us that Supreme Court redistricting jurisprudence is premised on a hierarchy of discrim: the right to discriminate for partisan gain is more protected than voters' right to be free from racial discrim in districting. 1/5 Were this not so the presumptions & burdens of proof would be entirely different. In fact the Court’s reasoning creates a perverse incentive for a political party to alienate voters of a particular race in order to exploit them in the redistricting process for political gain. 2/5

ICYMI @nytimes has published a #mustread read damning expose of the conservative extremist movement against DEI & “woke” that is laden w/ racist, sexist, homophobic & xenophobic commentary from the lead architects of this deceitful & diabolical agenda. 1/5 nytimes.com/interactive/20… The undeniable aim of this movement is a hostile takeover of public education to under-educate and indoctrinate the next generation of Americans with extremist conservative, white nationalist ideology. It is subversive and mind-warping. 2/5

As we head into 2024, know that it will be a challenging year. It will test our conviction to democracy, equality & every other worthy ideal this country has espoused. 1/5 Also know this: LDF will be fighting every step of the way to advance a refounding of this country where dignity is sacred, power is shared, and thriving is the standard. And we will not stop. 2/5

BREAKING: Trump recorded pressuring Wayne County, Michigan canvassers not to certify 2020 vote. #THREAD 1/5 detroitnews.com/story/news/pol… This may surprise some-not us. LDF filed a lawsuit on Nov. 20 2020 on behalf of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization & 3 Detroit residents challenging Trump and the Trump Campaign’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election by disenfranchising Black voters in MI. 2/5

A month out from the first college app season since SCOTUS issued its most recent decision on affirmative action, LDF & a diverse group of civil rts allies have issued an open letter to college & university leaders on their moral and legal obligations. 1/5 naacpldf.org/wp-content/upl… American higher education and democracy are at a crossroads. The US is increasingly multiracial and students of color already comprise the majority of children attending K-12 public schools. However, our K-12 public schools are growing increasingly racially segregated. 2/5

Big news out of Jackson, Mississippi where there was an attempted takeover of the state court of appeals by state officials. Specifically the chief judge tried to pack the court in this Black-led city in majority Black Hinds county w/ unelected judges. 1/5 courts.ms.gov/images/Opinion…
The MS Supreme Court issued a decision that HB 1020, the law recently passed by the State’s extremist conservative legislature enabling a court takeover, violated Mississippi’s constitutional requirement that Circuit Court judges be elected. 2/5

ALABAMA UPDATE: After a failed attempt to halt another fed court ruling that Alabama is discriminating against Black voters in its redistricting maps, AL Secretary of State Wes Allen has sent an emergency application to the Supreme Court asking it to press pause on the case. 1/5

Alabama’s desperate move comes a mere three months after a majority of the Supreme Court held that Alabama’s previous map discriminated against Black Alabamians and it needed to draw a second majority Black district or “something close to it.” 2/5

@VP Kamala Harris threw the ultimate darty in celebration of 50 years of #HipHop with an incredible mix of artists and entertainers, incl’g host @DeonCole, DJ @dnice & Olympics-ready breakdancer @bboyGravity and crew. 1/6



@FatJoe and @RealRemyMa kicked it off New York style, fully representing the birthplace of hip hop. 2/6

ICYMI: Something important is happening in Georgia. LDF has been fighting in federal court to show how the state’s latest voter suppression law-SB 202–deliberately and disproportionately harms Black voters. This week we scored two critical wins. 1/7 1st-as in Florida-we successfully stopped GA’s attempt to ban food & beverages for voters waiting in line. These attacks on “line-warming” or “line relief” aim to undermine critical efforts to support Black voters facing disproportionately long lines. 2/7aclu.org/documents/ame-…

The state of Alabama is lawlessly turning an already protracted act of massive disenfranchisement of Black voters into an act of massive resistance to a Supreme Court order. This is not just an act of racial discrimination. It is a threat to the rule of law. 1/5 The new AL cong’l map reduces Black voting age population in CD7 & creates a 2nd remedial district w/ Black voting age population of only 39.9%. This leaves Black voters w/ an oppty to elect a candidate of their choice in only 1 of 7 districts despite being 1 of 4 Alabamians. 2/5

The @CollegeBoard’s capitulation to DeSantis has very little to do with the AP course itself. The revised curriculum is certainly adequate. Rather, it has everything to do with moral abdication from an education provider in the face of bullying and bigoty. nytimes.com/2023/02/09/us/… That an educational corporation that makes over $1 billion in revenue would compromise its groundbreaking content to bend to the will of a governor who has waged an open war on truth is not only disgraceful, it is dangerous.

Tmw morning-Mon, Dec. 5-the Supreme Court will hear argument in an important case abt public accommodations & LGBTQ+ rts. The case is an attempt to relitigate over half a century of precedent holding that the 1st Amend dn permit business owners to discriminate based on identity.

https://twitter.com/NAACP_LDF/status/1599409440821809160

@NAACP_LDF won a seminal civil rts case in 1968-Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises-which established that a white restauranteur could not refuse Black patrons based on his belief that doing so, and contributing to racial integration in any way, “contravene[d] the will of God.”

CASE ALERT: This Wed., Dec. 7, the Supreme Court will hear argument in a case called #MoorevHarper. The case is based on how North Carolina congressional districts were drawn but it's also of national import. In fact, it might be the singular case to fully unravel our democracy. Moore v. Harper involves a complicated sounding theory called ISLT or the “independent state legislature theory”, which is another way of saying that state legislatures—and not state courts--should be the final decider of whether a state’s election laws are constitutional.

Warning. Don't come for Brown v. Board. We will not allow the sacrifices of our clients in the 5 consolidated cases that made up this landmark, unanimous decision that struck down the ignominious apparatus of racial apartheid in the U.S. to be disregarded by re-writing Brown.

https://twitter.com/NAACP_LDF/status/1551693944249110530

Brown made clear that the Equal Protection Clause was enacted to protect Black ppl from being saddled
w/ “inferiority in civil society,” from experiencing
discrimination that “lessen[s] the security of their
enjoyment of the rights which others enjoy,” . . .

BREAKING: 25 Harvard Student and Alumni Organizations File Amicus Brief in Support of College Admissions Policies That Foster Diversity - naacpldf.org/press-release/… “Overruling over 40 years of Supreme Court precedent by outlawing the limited consideration of race in college admissions, as SFFA has asked the Court to do, would reproduce in our country’s universities and colleges the racial inequities that persist in its K-12 school system …

One month ago SCOTUS’S conservative supermajority reversed Roe in the abhorrent and lawless Dobbs decision. The aftermath has been as bad as we thought and promises to get worse. #thread We must do everything in our power to elect a Congress this November that will protect all of our rights. In the meantime, women, girls and other impregnable people—especially Black and Brown ppl—need resources to protect themselves. Here are a few: threeforfreedom.org

THREAD. The idea that gun regulations are harmful because they can be used to discriminate against Black people creates a false choice for Black communities about their safety. 1/4 As we wrote in our recent brief arguing that the 2d Amend does not prohibit gun regs, the history of gun regs includes important efforts to protect Black communities from racialized violence. 2/4 bit.ly/3ubsM4n

I deliberately have not reposted the abhorrent picture of the structure erected near the Capitol yesterday that was wooden platform with a hanging noose because it does not deserve any additional exposure. That does not mean we should be blind to the fact that it was there. 1/4 We are in extremely dangerous times. And if each and every one of us who claims to be outraged is not asking “how did we get here?” and examining their role in allowing or abetting white supremacy through acts, omissions, silence or denial, then we will not find a way out. 2/4

Today, March 20, 2020, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund turns 80 years old. Founded in 1940 by a group of courageous & visionary Black lawyers, incl’g #ThurgoodMarshall, @NAACP_LDF sought to transform a country rife w/ racism & racial inequity w/out a blueprint or roadmap. #LDF80 1/5 In this time of turmoil, I can’t think of a better place to fight for the dignity of humanity & especially of Black ppl than @NAACP_LDF. Few advocacy orgs created by us & for us have endured this long. And, we’re committed to cont the fight for our future. Happy #LDF80! 2/5