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FW: Sign our Supreme Court petition: President Obama, nominate a progressive woman of color

From:info@powerpacplus.org To: john.podesta@gmail.com Date: 2016-03-04 18:00 Subject: FW: Sign our Supreme Court petition: President Obama, nominate a progressive woman of color

John -- Did you see our last email calling for the appointment of a progressive woman of color for the Supreme Court? Candidates are being vetted as we speak. Sign the petition to President Obama today <http://act.democracyforamerica.com/sign/supremecourtpowerpac/>. -the PowerPAC+ Team ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Dear Friend, On Tuesday, Senator Mitch McConnell announced that there would be no hearing or vote -- not even a cordial meeting -- on any Supreme Court nominee that President Obama presents. All of the Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee signed off on a letter approving of this obstruction. Republicans are undermining President Obama’s constitutional right to choose a Supreme Court justice nominee. This only underscores how -- historically and throughout President Obama’s presidency -- conservatives have worked to prevent social progress at every level of government. The ferocity of the opposition on the right wing to President Obama’s expected nominee stems from the very real understanding that this nomination represents a breaking of the dam holding back the demographic and social change that has been surging into society over the past 50 years. After centuries of racial and gender exclusion, America has a lot of catching up to do. Since the creation of the Supreme Court in 1789, America has had 112 justices, and 106 have been white men. That’s exactly why President Obama should nominate a progressive woman of color. We don’t have much time. Please join me in signing this urgent petition asking President Obama to pick a progressive woman of color for the Supreme Court. <http://www.powerpacplus.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fact.democracyforamerica.com%2Fsign%2Fsupremecourtpowerpac%2F&e=0caf77a27d24d22be889e78213219b14&utm_source=pacplus&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=scotus_petition&n=1&test_email=1> For the past 45 years, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has worked diligently to hold back the full force and impact of the demographic changes becoming manifest in America’s modern, multi-racial society. At every step of the way, the forces hostile to the browning of America have turned to the Supreme Court. Over the past five decades, those forces have found at least five justices willing to be a co-conspirator to block and roll back progress towards equality and justice. Over the past decade, the Court has undermined the Voting Rights Act in its Shelby decision. It weakened affirmative action programs in its Schuette decision. It turned loose the power of big money in its Citizens United decision. The stakes of the current appointment are especially high given what’s presently on the docket. Cases that could affirm President Obama’s executive order protecting millions of immigrants, undercut the ability of unions to collect fees from the beneficiaries of their collective bargaining efforts, and dilute the voting power of people of color are all pending before the Supreme Court. And in the years ahead, the stakes are equally high. Demands for equality have historically come from communities of color, women, the LGBTQ community, workers, and many other marginalized groups of people. A Supreme Court justice who helps the court reflect the demographics of our country would be a major step forward in balancing the historical scales. Given the enormous impact on the future direction of the country, President Obama should choose a progressive woman who comes from and deeply understands communities of color in our country. Please sign the petition to President Obama today. <http://www.powerpacplus.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fact.democracyforamerica.com%2Fsign%2Fsupremecourtpowerpac%2F&e=0caf77a27d24d22be889e78213219b14&utm_source=pacplus&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=scotus_petition&n=2&test_email=1> In a recent SCOTUSblog article, President Obama implicitly illustrated his commitment to choosing a nominee who understands the “the daily reality of people’s lives”: "That’s why [a quality] I seek in a judge is a keen understanding that justice is not about abstract legal theory, nor some footnote in a dusty casebook. It’s the kind of life experience earned outside the classroom and the courtroom; experience that suggests he or she views the law not only as an intellectual exercise, but also grasps the way it affects the daily reality of people’s lives in a big, complicated democracy, and in rapidly changing times. That, I believe, is an essential element for arriving at just decisions and fair outcomes… An understanding of the way the world really works." Right now, the daily reality of people’s lives is clearly not reflected on the Supreme Court. Women of color -- particularly Black women and Latinas -- have suffered the most from the conservative Supreme Court majority and Antonin Scalia’s right-wing decisions. When the Supreme Court limits access to abortion, rolls back voting rights, and sides with corporations over people, it is women of color who face the most intense injustice. That is why our president should unapologetically nominate a proud progressive woman of color who comes from and is committed to the complete inclusion and empowerment of our country’s growing communities of color -- whose very presence will help correct the centuries-old gender and racial imbalance on the court. This is a defining moment. Please let President Obama know he should honor the struggle of those who have gone before and leave a legacy for those who will come after by appointing a strong progressive woman of color as the next justice of the Supreme Court. <http://www.powerpacplus.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fact.democracyforamerica.com%2Fsign%2Fsupremecourtpowerpac%2F&e=0caf77a27d24d22be889e78213219b14&utm_source=pacplus&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=scotus_petition&n=3&test_email=1> Thank you for helping overturn the Supreme Court’s legacy of injustice and inequality. -=-=- Paid for by PowerPAC+ and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Donate: http://pacplus.nationbuilder.com/donate Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PowerPAC.Plus/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/PowerPAC_Plus YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aPACPlus Instagram: http://instagram.com/powerpac_plus This email was sent to john.podesta@gmail.com. To stop receiving emails: http://www.powerpacplus.org/unsubscribe -=-=- Created with NationBuilder - http://nationbuilder.com/