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A fundamental abuse of power

Berry Craig
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By DERRICK JOHNSON

NAACP president and CEO

President Trump and Mitch McConnell are attempting to fill the Supreme Court seat before the election, and they began their efforts not even 24 hours after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away.

That is reprehensible.

Coming in the midst of an election, Trump’s nomination—and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s vow to confirm any Trump nominee—represent a corrupt overreach by a president and Senators who place power and party over the needs of the American people.

The NAACP deeply mourns the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was a passionate defender of equal justice—on and off the court, and her powerful opinions and dissents on voting rights, racial justice, gender equality, and the rights of people with disabilities will be remembered forever. Her place in history as the second civil rights lawyer to serve on the Court, after Thurgood Marshall, is hugely significant to us.

Justice Ginsburg’s successor must be nominated by the next president and confirmed by the next Senate. As we noted in our joint statement by civil rights leaders, the American people are already casting votes for their next president and senators. Their voices must be heard. It is the voters who should decide who sits on the Supreme Court. Anything less represents an attack on our democracy.

The NAACP has been in the fight to protect the Supreme Court since 1930, notably when we helped to defeat a Herbert Hoover nominee. We will fight this illegitimate Trump nomination with everything we have because of the dangerous threat it poses to our civil rights and to the future of our democracy.

At the same time, we emphatically encourage all Americans to vote. As the Supreme Court battle demonstrates, the consequences of this election could not be greater.

Our voices must be heard and honored in our democracy.

 

Hold Justice Ginsburg Seat - NAACP Petition