Advocacy groups teaming up for Supreme Court accountability campaign

A group of over 30 advocacy organizations is banding together for a campaign to stump for structural reforms to the Supreme Court, including court expansion, following revelations of alleged misconduct by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The groups, including organizations like Color of Change, Greenpeace USA, NARAL Pro-Choice America and March for Our Lives Action Fund, announced the formation of the “Just Majority” campaign, which they say will advocate for a “fair and ethical” Supreme Court.

“The project will spotlight the crisis of legitimacy faced by the Court, highlighting the justices’ unethical behavior and partisan rulings, and make the case for structural reforms such as Court expansion,” the organizations said in a release.

The campaign will feature a bus tour with over 20 stops across the country, focusing on events to advocate for the need to fight back against attacks on “reproductive rights, gun violence prevention measures, and racial justice and civil rights.”

The campaign will also focus on ethical issues at the court, in the wake of revelations about Thomas’s relationship with a billionaire Republican donor that included accepting trips and vacations he did not disclose. The news has caused some Democrats to call for Thomas to resign and has prompted a wider push in Congress for an investigation into the issue and a revamped ethical code for justices.

“An unaccountable, unethical majority on the Supreme Court is behaving as if the rules don’t apply to them,” the groups said. “It’s time for a national conversation about adding justices so the Court can once again advance justice and equality.”

The call for an expanded court is one that briefly picked up steam among progressive Democrats during the 2020 party primary, but was not accepted by mainstream leaders in the party and was rebuked by Republicans.