See the inspiring stories Come meet us Time to legalize weed?
Supreme Court of the United States

Demand Justice: Saving courts from Donald Trump

Unlike Judicial Crisis Network, we do not rely so much on a single funder: Opposing view

Brian Fallon

One reason the far-right fringe of the Republican Party is on the cusp of completing a takeover of the Supreme Court is because conservative groups’ spending totally overwhelms the other side in every nomination fight.

President Donald Trump and Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

It is naive to think this level of outside spending has not had an impact. For some moderate senators, a seven-figure ad buy by a group such as JCN just might intimidate them into voting for right-wing judges they otherwise would not support.

OUR VIEW:Secret money taints fight for Supreme Court seat

My colleagues and I founded Demand Justice in May to try to address this imbalance and prod Democrats to show more guts when it comes to opposing Trump’s extreme nominees. It’s true we operate as part of a 501(c)(4) organization under the tax code, but unlike Judicial Crisis Network, our work does not rely so much on a single funder. In just two months since our launch, thousands of grassroots donors have invested in our fight to save our courts from Trump. The average online donation is just $30.

We will never match groups like the Judicial Crisis Network or the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity dollar for dollar. But we still plan to make sure progressive voices are no longer drowned out when it comes to the fight for the future of the Supreme Court.

With a lot of hard work, we might one day succeed in restoring a majority of progressive justices to the Supreme Court, and then have a chance to overturn the Citizens United decision. But we will never achieve the type of reform we seek so long as progressives continue to sit on our hands and cede the playing field to right-wing groups.

Brian Fallon is executive director of Demand Justice. (The conservative Judicial Crisis Network declined to provide an opposing view.)

If you can't see this reader poll, please refresh your page.

Featured Weekly Ad