In Univision, Zwarensteyn Underscores How Trump, McConnell Ignore Systematic Racism and COVID-19 to Transform the Courts

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

WASHINGTON – President Trump, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, and Judiciary Chairman Graham are failing to meaningfully and effectively address the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and the state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown people, Lena Zwarensteyn, fair courts campaign director at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, writes in a Univision opinion piece. She notes that they have instead been singularly focused on stacking the courts with unfit judges, and recently hit the grim milestone of 200 lifetime judicial confirmations during the Trump administration.

“America is in pain. Our government and institutions are infused with white supremacy — including the judiciary, the branch responsible for delivering impartial justice,” Zwarensteyn writes.

She continues, “Federal judges decide important cases on who has access to voting, health care, fair pay, disability rights, reproductive freedom, employment protections, and so much more. And far too often in our country’s history, courts have made legally invisible the humanity — and the pain and suffering — of communities of color. Now, the confluence of two crises — systemic racism marked by state violence against Black people and COVID-19 — has laid bare the unjust harms against communities of color, and how our judicial system has enabled and perpetuated these crises. For that reason, we must work together to create a judiciary that is fair, just, and representative of the diversity of our country.”

The full text of the opinion piece is available here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 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.