Let’s Vote For Fair Courts In 2020

-by Marge Baker,
Executive Vice President,
People for the American Way

Even after two months into a national health and economic crisis, Donald Trump and his Republican cronies in the Senate have continued their assault on our federal courts. And while Americans from every walk of life are dealing with the devastating health and economic impact of this pandemic, Senate Republicans are quietly processing more of Trump’s judicial nominees.

People For the American Way has led the charge against Trump’s dangerous judicial nominees since he took office. And in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, PFAW’s Vote the Courts 2020 campaign has focused on two goals: encouraging presidential candidates to prioritize the importance of the courts in their campaigns and holding senators who vote for Trump’s dangerous troubling judicial nominees accountable for those votes.

Vote the Courts 2020 strives to educate the public about the role that federal judges play in their daily lives-- whether they have access to affordable health care; whether their rights as workers are protected; whether they have the ability to vote and have that vote counted; whether they can be free from discrimination; whether they will have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. The list is endless and not at all abstract.

During the primary season, we encouraged candidates to address the importance of the courts and share the kinds of judges and justices they would nominate to the bench as president.  Even amid the once-crowded field of contenders, more than a dozen Democratic candidates responded to our call.

Following the campaign launch, PFAW co-sponsored a presidential candidate forum in Iowa that focused on the importance of democracy reform and the courts, where five former candidates spoke in greater detail about their plans to restore balance to our courts.

This issue has become especially salient to progressives in the Trump era: Polling has shown that Democratic voters outrank Republican voters on whether the courts are a reason to support their party’s presidential candidate. In the coming months before Election Day, there is ample opportunity to continue to highlight the importance of fair-minded judges.

And this is relevant not just to the presidency, but also to the senators that vote on these nominees. That’s why another prominent facet of the Vote the Courts 2020 campaign is holding Senators Martha McSally, Cory Gardner, Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst, Susan Collins and David Perdue accountable for their votes to confirm Trump’s dangerous nominees. Working with partners and allies in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine and North Carolina, we are highlighting senators’ votes to confirm extreme Trump judges who are hostile to health care, reproductive rights, a healthy environment, democracy and voting rights, and the social safety net through videos, op-eds, and activist toolkits.





In the coming months, we will continue to grow our accountability work, as the same poll cited above also indicates that Democratic voters care more about their senators’ judicial confirmation votes than do Republican voters when weighing their support for a candidate.

Our ability to create products that are integral to our Vote the Court 2020 campaign depends on the work of our stellar legal research team.  In particular, both our Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears blog series and web tool provide the information we are using to tie Trump judges’ rulings and dissents to the impact they have on issues critical to our daily lives.

After three and a half years, Trump and his Republican enablers have reshaped our federal judiciary by packing our courts with ultra-conservative judges who give them the green light to enact their extreme agenda. In fact, most Trump appointees are white men who are young enough to spend decades in their lifetime positions on the bench. Long after he vacates office, the damage he has done will endure.

Our rights and liberties-- our right to accessible, affordable health care; our right to make decisions about our bodies; our right to cast a ballot that counts; our right to clean air and water, and more-- are all on the line on Election Day. We need to fight for fair courts, and for judges who understand equality and justice for all of us.