“The Supreme Court has lost the public’s confidence in its integrity and has eroded its own legitimacy.”

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, and the Transgender Law Center (TLC), issued a call for immediate, essential reforms of the U.S. Supreme Court, including adding additional seats to equal the number of federal judicial circuits and adopting an enforceable ethics code for Supreme Court justices.

In addition, the organizations called for lifting the filibuster to allow Senate consideration of Court reform and voting rights legislation.

The Joint Statement of GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Transgender Law Center:

The undersigned national LGBTQ+ legal advocacy organizations litigate in our Nation’s federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court.  We believe the time is long past due to recommit to the essential protections of liberty and equality and the right to vote for all Americans and for generations to come.  The Supreme Court has lost the public’s confidence in its integrity and has eroded its own legitimacy. To regain a measure of balance and restore confidence in the Court and the rule of law, we call for the following as minimal essential steps:

• Lift the filibuster at least to allow Senate consideration of Supreme Court reform and voting rights restoration.
• Pass the Judiciary Act of 2021, H.R. 2584 and S. 1141, to expand the number of seats on the Court to equal the number of circuits in the federal judiciary.
• Pass the For the People Act of 2021, H.R. 1 and S. 1; the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021, H.R. 4 and S. 4; and the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, H.R. 51 and S. 51.
• Adopt an enforceable ethics code for the Supreme Court. 

xxx

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the LGBTQ community’s most vulnerable. https://www.nclrights.org