OPINION: We cannot relinquish our court system to the influence of wealthy, special corporate interests or extremists who want to roll back our hard-won progress.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more , Rakim could not have achieved his full potential and overcome the circumstances of his birth. In fact, the court reaffirmed affirmative action in a case called Grutter v. Bollinger just as he was considering his prospects after high school. Had the court gone the other way then, his educational opportunities would have been far less attractive and liberating.
Unfortunately, over the last decade, as conservatives have gained power on the Supreme Court, we’ve seen it increasingly wield that power against working people and people of color. The court’s ruling against affirmative action is a huge blow to racial equality, while its blockage of student loan cancellation will hurt Black and brown borrowers the most. The 303 Creative LLC. v. Elenis decision targets LGBTQ+ people but weakens nondiscrimination protections for all vulnerable groups. Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. Teamsters will make it harder for workers to strike, while Sackett v. EPA will now put communities of color at greater risk for polluted water. The court may claim to be “colorblind,” but this series of recent decisions speaks to huge setbacks that are anything but colorblind.
Our collective future hangs in the balance with each damaging decision. So we must take action to support court reforms that get progress moving back in the right direction.
But it’s not just at the Supreme Court. These reforms are needed at every level of the judiciary so that all of us can be sure we have a fair shot in our courts. Our lawmakers must institute and enforce a code of ethics that holds judges to a higher standard and applies real consequences for impropriety. True transparency that gives the American public insight into how our courts operate is also critical to regaining national trust. And we should be considering the proper jurisdiction of our courts to ensure that the people’s voices always predominate in our democracy.
If we wish to win the prolonged fight to protect our republic and preserve it for future generations, strengthening our judiciary will be essential. That work must begin anew, today.
Fred Redmond is secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, America’s labor federation of 60 unions comprising more than 12.5 million members.
Rakim Brooks is the president of Alliance for Justice and a public interest appellate lawyer.
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