September 23, 2024
Dear Arizona Congressional Delegation: Senators Kelly and Sinema and Representatives Schweikert, Crane, Gallego, Stanton, Biggs, Ciscomani, Grijalva, Lesko, and Gosar,
We write today on behalf of the Arizonans we represent in every corner of our state to urge you to stand up to the broken United States Supreme Court. The justices in the supermajority have grabbed unprecedented power to rewrite the rules favoring the ultra rich and powerful benefactors who fund their luxury vacations and private jet flights. As they do, Arizonans are paying the price with our rights and freedoms.
Just six weeks before Arizona’s voter registration deadline, the Republican National Committee and Republican members of the Arizona State legislature turned to their allies on the high court to urge them to impose new registration requirements. The chaos and confusion caused by this last-ditch effort to suppress the vote was only possible because lawmakers, emboldened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings clearly demonstrating their hostility to democratic norms, felt empowered to turn to the justices to do what they are unable to do legislatively: disenfranchise thousands of voters just weeks before a presidential election. This isn't a coincidence. Outlandish legal claims like the ones that the Arizona GOP are making in this case are becoming more and more common. This case is the culmination of a 50-year project on the right to capture the courts with partisans who will rule not based on the law, but based on political affiliation.
This was never more clear than when the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority — including three justices appointed by then-president Donald Trump — issued a ruling earlier this summer granting king-like powers to the executive branch, granting Trump’s claims of presidential immunity. The justices dropped their façade of nonpartisanship, and what we have known for too long became irrefutable: The U.S. Supreme Court has been captured by dangerous right-wing interests and those intent on brandishing the law as a political weapon to advance their dangerous agenda over the will of the people.
It’s a pattern we, Arizonans, know well. Just a year before the supermajority overturned decades of precedent to deny our constitutional right to abortion, made it harder to protect the air we breathe from Big Polluters, and sent our violence prevention measures back to the time of horses and buggies, the justices upheld two Arizona voting restrictions measures. Then, in the same breath that the supermajority stripped away our reproductive rights, they told us to address it through voting in our states — knowing they had made it harder to access the ballot and ensured that our votes would not carry equal weight.
In the face of these decisions, we are reminded of the ways our communities, past and present, have made our voices heard, fought for progress and unlocked our freedoms despite the challenges. However, this time we’re up against an increasingly stacked deck that you have the authority to fix before it's too late. Between the U.S. Supreme Court’s power grab this summer — in which they gave themselves the authority to override policy decisions made by federal experts to instead serve corporate billionaires’ agendas — and state efforts to remove accountability from the judiciary, we are reaching the point of no return.
We deserve a U.S. Supreme Court that prioritizes the American people over an elite few, holds major corporations accountable for paying their fair share, and addresses crises at the core to protect the most vulnerable Americans. Instead we are staring down the barrel of a U.S. Supreme Court prepared to empower dictatorship and dismantle democracy, line the pockets of those responsible for driving up the cost of living for Arizonans by 2.2% in the last year and increasing rent between 20-40 percent, and roll back our rights and freedoms in unfathomable ways.
We cannot afford to go back. Our progress has been too hard fought and hard won to let the United States Supreme Court steal it away. Fortunately, there is a path forward that you have the power to pave.
The Biden-Harris administration recently announced proposed structural reforms of the United States Supreme Court. This represents a critical step in bringing accountability to the U.S. Supreme Court and restoring the public’s faith in the institution. It is now up to Congress to answer the President’s call and use its role in our system of checks and balances to pass legislation that will make reform real. It is Congress who can impeach and convict justices. It is Congress who holds the power of the purse and can condition its funding for the U.S. Supreme Court. And, most importantly, it is Congress who has the Constitutional responsibility to enact legislation to reform the U.S. Supreme Court. In the face of the right-wing-controlled U.S. Supreme Court ‘s failure to do its job defending our democracy, it's up to Congress to take back its power and fight for our freedoms.
This harm is not inevitable — we deserve better and better is possible. We are counting on you to fix the United States Supreme Court.
Signed,
Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Advocates
Arizona Faith Network
Arizona Jobs With Justice
Arizona NAACP State Conference
Civic Engagement Beyond Voting
Common Defense
Empowering Arizona, Inc
Fuerte Arts Movement
Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA)
National Council of Jewish Women Arizona
Progress Arizona
Promise Arizona
Reproductive Freedom For All Arizona
Supermajority
Worker Power