Supreme Court Commission Important Step Toward Needed Reforms

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 14, 2021 – Today the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court issued a preliminary draft of its final report. As was indicated at the Commission’s formation, the report does not make specific recommendations for or against any of the reforms discussed. 

On July 20, former Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron testified before the Commission, calling on the Commission to recognize the dire need for Supreme Court reform in the wake of the current Court’s continued partisan assault on democracy and voting rights. In her testimony, Aron noted that, beginning with Bush v. Gore, the Court’s conservative majority has frequently skewed the law and upended decades of precedent to undermine American democracy, including by supporting partisan gerrymandering, gutting the Voting Rights Act, and weakening the power of unions. These decisions have had the direct effect of benefiting the Republican Party and disadvantaging Democrats. 

Alliance for Justice President Rakim Brooks issued the following statement: 

“The conversations the Supreme Court Commission has started are an important step towards achieving the reforms we so desperately need — up to and including expanding the Supreme Court. The need for reform is substantial.  As Nan Aron indicated, since Bush v. Gore, the Court’s conservative majority has increasingly abused its constitutional authority.  From greenlighting Texas’s abortion ban to gutting the Voting Rights Act and blocking the eviction moratorium as COVID surged, it’s clear that this Court is advancing a dangerous agenda. Only democracy can save this Court, and the Commission’s report will help raise awareness that reform is not only possible, but necessary.”