Supreme Court Threatens Democracy Like Never Before

CONTACT
Zack Ford, Press Secretary
(202) 464-7370 / zack.ford@afjac.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 1, 2024 – Today marks the end of the 2023–24 Supreme Court term, in which the Court did the following: 

• Blocked states’ ability to disqualify insurrectionists from the ballot
• Left open the door to future challenges to the abortion pill mifepristone
• Invited states to engage in racial gerrymandering by just calling it political gerrymandering 
• Blocked regulation of bump stocks, guaranteeing more deadly shootings 
• Enabled state and local corruption by allowing for briberies to be paid after the fact 
• Prolonged legal uncertainty for doctors and medical suffering for pregnant patients requiring emergency abortions 
• Separated families by allowing non-citizen spouses to be forced out of the country 
• Blocked clean air protections before they could even be litigated in lower courts 
• Criminalized homelessness, welcoming legal penalties for people who simply have no place of their own to sleep 
• Made it harder to punish those who committed insurrection on January 6 
• Limited the ability of federal agencies to issue civil penalties and hold the wealthy and powerful accountable 
• Seized power from the experts who run the myriad agencies of our government 
• Granted Trump immunity for insurrection and enabled American dictatorships 
• Ignored ever-growing corruption scandals on the Court 

Alliance for Justice Action Campaign Vice President of Strategy Keith Thirion issued the following statement: 

“The Republican-appointed majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is as extreme as ever and has now crowned themselves royalty. With a massive power grab at the end of the term, the Court is warning us that the worst is yet to come. In the face of absolutely inhumane rulings, we can’t afford to wait and see just how far down the rabbit hole this Court will take us.  

“In 2024, we must commit to electing a president and a Congress that will take the steps necessary to rein this Court in. We need significant Democratic majorities and a Democratic president capable of passing term limits, an enforceable code of conduct, and Court expansion while confirming judges who will protect the rights of all of us. It is no exaggeration to say that lives are on the line with the carnage this Court would invite upon our lives, and there must be accountability for their actions. We’ve seen the future they have in mind for us and it’s one our democracy truly might not survive if we don’t act accordingly.”