Liberal advocacy groups have revived a push to pack the Supreme Court and are pressuring Democrats running for election this fall to develop a battle plan to fight conservative justices.
The Four More campaign aims to put four more justices on the high court to negate the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. The effort is led by the far-left’s Demand Justice, Stand Up America, Indivisible, Take Back the Court Action Fund, and the People’s Parity Project, which were spurred on by the high court overturning nationwide abortion rights.
Stand Up America executive director Christina Harvey said she felt that the coalition had no choice but to push Congress for an immediate expansion of the number of justices from nine to 13.
“We know that change this big will not be easy. We know that it will not happen overnight,” Ms. Harvey said at a press conference announcing the campaign. “But if our lawmakers want us to send them back to Washington this fall, they need to give the American people a roadmap not just for codifying Roe v. Wade but also for how they plan to stand up to this out-of-control court.”
The Supreme Court’s decision last week in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization scrapped the court’s 1973 decision recognizing a right to obtain an abortion. The Dobbs decision did not outlaw abortion but kicked abortion law back to the states.
Take Back the Court Action Fund executive director Sarah Lipton-Lubet said the high court was waging a war on women.
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“It’s the continuation and an acceleration of the war the right-wing justices are prosecuting against women, against communities of color, against the LGBTQ community, against clean air and water and worker’s rights and immigrants’ rights, against voting and democracy, against America itself,” she said.
Demand Justice also mobilized against the confirmations of Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who were appointed by former President Trump and joined the majority opinion overturning Roe.
“Millions of Americans will suffer and many will die because of what this court has done,” said Katie O’Connor, Demand Justice deputy chief counsel, at Monday’s press conference.
Ms. O’Connor noted that the suffering will be felt by “all Americans who are capable of pregnancy” and the harm would disproportionately hit people of color and poor people.
The Four More campaign insists its agenda is not radical. The group’s website said 60 members of Congress already support its aims, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, and Rep. Adam Schiff, California Republican.
Efforts to pack the Supreme Court have faced opposition from conservative groups, notably the Article III Project and the Judicial Crisis Network, as well as from some Democratic leaders.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Saturday that President Biden “does not agree with” expanding the high court and it is not something he wants to do.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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