Gupta and Goss Graves Op-Ed: We Must Rise Up to Protect Our Courts

Courts News 10.24,19

‘Not Enough to Hope Law Will Prevail, We Must Do the Hard Work’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rafael Medina, [email protected], 202.869.0390

WASHINGTON – In a Morning Consult op-ed, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, reflect on the anniversary of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gupta and Goss Graves note the incredible national mobilization in opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination and urge the American people to corral that same energy to protect our democracy now.

“The integrity of the federal courts is in jeopardy. But there is plenty of reason to hope: Kavanaugh’s confirmation also fired people up,” Gupta and Goss Graves write.

“The ordeal was dizzying. It also fueled our resolve to fight for an America that is good, decent and safe for us all. Last summer, people across the country mobilized in what became the most robust civil and human rights effort to oppose a Supreme Court nomination. Months later, women voted in record numbers and elected the most diverse Congress in our nation’s history, including more than 100 women,” the op-ed continues. “We must corral that same fierce energy now.”

“The fruits of the conservative investment in the courts are now real — but they are not a foregone conclusion. Not if we rise up now. It is not enough to hope the law will prevail. We must do the hard work to protect our courts and make equal justice under law more than an abstract idea, but a lived reality for us all,” the op-ed concludes.

The full text of the op-ed is available here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.