Social justice activists and labor leaders outraged by a recent Supreme Court ruling in a major voting rights case protested at a federal district courthouse on Wednesday.
The demonstration took place May 13th at the Martin Luther King Federal Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey. It was sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress.
“We held this protest in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Louisiana v. Callais case. That ruling has effectively killed the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.
“It will enable states to redraw their congressional districts and eliminate those which have majority black populations. This in turn will cause many black congressional representatives to lose their seats,” Hamm said.
He said the court’s ruling is a major set back to the African American struggle for voting rights and political representation in the United States. It will leave many states, particularly those in the South with no Black congressional representation.
“This may be one of the worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions since the ruling in the Dred Scott case of 1857 which said that black people had no rights that white people were bound to respect,” he said.
As soon as the protesters arrived they set up a picket line outside the entrance of the courthouse. They chanted and drummed while carrying signs and banners.
Courthouse security came outside and watched them from the steps but did not interfere. Drones hovered above the demonstrators for several hours until the conclusion of the protest.
Unlike most demonstrations where the crowd stops to listen to the speakers, during this event they made their presentations during the picketing. The picket line never stopped moving. It continued until the demonstration was over.
Hamm opened the rally saying the protesters were there to oppose this “abominable” decision by the court and that they demanded the restoration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“We demand that Congress pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act at the federal level. We demand that the state legislature pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act of New Jersey. It has been passed by the Assembly now we want it passed by the Senate,” he said.
“We also demand the reform and restructuring of the Supreme Court. Lifetime appointments must end, term limits should be imposed, and stronger ethics laws should be put in place,” he said.
Speakers at the rally included Deborah Smith-Gregory, President, NAACP Newark, Larry Hirsch, President, Local 913 American Federation of Government Employees, Daryn Martin, Secretary-Treasurer, District 1199J, and Rev Michael Corso, Sophia Inclusive Community.
Other speakers there were Jimmy Small, Chairman, Muslim League of Voters of New Jersey, Zayid Muhammad, New Jersey Communities for Accountable Policing, and Assatta Mann-Colon, Community Organizing Manager, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
Additional speakers addressed the crowd including Heather Richner, Associate Counsel for the Democracy and Justice Program, Rev Anya Sammler, Senior Co-Minister Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, Evelyn Williams, Vice Chairwoman, South Ward Democratic Committee, and Larry Adams, Vice Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress.
An earlier written statement announcing the protest also called for the expansion of the court from nine to thirteen justices to allow for the appointment of four liberal members to break the ideological stranglehold of the current right wing super majority on the court.
During the demonstration the protesters called for the impeachment of those justices that were part of the court majority that issued the ruling in the Callais case. They also called for the impeachment of President Trump.
For more information please call People’s Organization for Progress at 973 801-0001.
