We invite you to join us for a livestream of testimony to the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States on July 20, 2021.  

Executive Director Dennis Parker will be making comments on a panel titled, “Perspectives on Court Reform,” to take place between 11:45 am and 1 pm. You can read the written submission. The panel will be followed by questions from Commissioners. 

We call out the lack of professional diversity on the current Court. Of the current sitting Supreme Court justices, none spent a substantial part of their career working as a legal aid attorney or for a nonprofit civil rights organization. 

We also call out the lack of clear conflict of interest policy to recuse one’s self when a financial incentive or personal relationship may cloud a judge’s ability to make a fair or objective ruling. 

With the Court poised to address fundamental issues that drive racial inequality, including voting rights, employment discrimination, affirmative action, police brutality, and qualified immunity, the hyper-partisan and largely white conservative majority poses a serious threat to racial equity and equality. 

The Supreme Court has an immense impact on the rights of the communities with whom NCLEJ works. However, too often, it is also an opaque and inaccessible institution in which the voices and experiences of marginalized communities and the unique issues they face are ignored and silenced. Any reforms to the Supreme Court must prioritize these voices and experiences and seek to build a more just and transparent legal system, starting at the top. 

Thank you to Saima Ahktar, Senior Staff Attorney, Anjana Malhotra, Senior Staff Attorney, and Katharine Deabler-Meadows, Staff Attorney, who supported this submission. 

We hope that you can join us. 

Dennis Parker