We Need a Supreme Court That Works for All of Us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick McNeil, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to authorize subpoenas related to its Supreme Court ethics investigation:

“We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee’s continued oversight efforts — including today’s vote to authorize subpoenas for Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow — to address the ongoing and escalating ethics crisis at the U.S. Supreme Court. Chair Durbin, along with Senator Whitehouse, have led calls for accountability, which have been critically important as we work to ensure we have a federal judiciary that is free of corruption. We need a Supreme Court that works for all of us, and we need assurance that it is. Following the Court’s recent adoption of its own code of conduct, which is insufficient and lacks any mechanism for enforcement, this urgent work must continue.

“As the committee exercises its crucial oversight authority to ensure abuses of power don’t go unchecked in our federal judiciary, Congress must continue to act. It is unacceptable that abuses of power could become more frequent and severe — further corroding the public’s faith in our judicial system and undermining our democracy.

“Efforts to address this crisis must persist alongside our ongoing push to confirm highly qualified federal judges who are professionally and demographically diverse and committed to civil and human rights. That is how we build an equal justice judiciary that works for everyone. Communities across the nation depend on federal jurists to fairly administer justice for all people, and we must do whatever it takes to ensure that they do.”

In April, The Leadership Conference and more than 50 national organizations wrote to members of Congress calling for swift action to address the ongoing ethics crisis.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 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.

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