Poll shows Black voters are displeased with Supreme Court and want immediate reform
EXCLUSIVE: “Black voters are sick and tired of a court that puts the needs of a few rich and powerful people over theirs,” Rev. Al Sharpton tells theGrio.
A new poll shows that Black voters are displeased with the Supreme Court’s recent rulings and demand the court undergo reform to restore balance and equity, theGrio exclusively reports.
The Just Majority Coalition, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Supreme Court expansion, partnered with Black Voters Matter, Drum Major Institute, National Action Network, and Demand Justice to illustrate that Black voters have lost faith in the highest court in the nation.
According to the poll, Black voters voiced “overwhelming opposition” to the court’s ruling that “rolled back affirmative action in college admissions, with 71% disapproving of the ruling.”
“Black voters see the Supreme Court reinforcing existing inequality in the country,” reads a memo detailing the national poll, which was administered by HIT Strategies, a polling firm that focuses on Black and brown voters and young voters. “Perhaps as a result of these rulings, Black voters have lost confidence in the Supreme Court.”
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, told theGrio, “The Supreme Court has run a relentless campaign to unravel more than 60 years of hard-won civil rights for Black Americans.”
“Every session, we have watched one right after another stripped away — from voting rights a decade ago, to reproductive health last year, and finally the gutting of affirmative action this summer,” he explained.
“Black voters are sick and tired of a court that puts the needs of a few rich and powerful people over theirs,” Sharpton continued, “which is why we are fighting to ensure we reform the bench so it lives up to its promise of equal justice for all.”
According to the poll, “Black voters are not just dissatisfied with the current state of the Supreme Court – they are hungry for action.”
When asked about the need for Supreme Court reform, 85% of poll participants said it should be a “high or medium priority” for Congress and the president.
In November, the court announced that it adopted a code of ethics for the first time in history. However, the code of conduct is unenforceable, making it the only court in the country without a binding ethical code.
The poll also highlights that 79% of the pollsters also believe the Supreme Court is partial toward “the rich and the powerful.”
“The Supreme Court should protect the rights of everyone, but the justices are too often giving more rights to the rich and powerful while taking away rights from everyone else,” read the poll summary memo.
Pollsters focused their attention on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been exposed by reporting from ProPublica for his connections to the “rich and powerful.”
In September, a ProPublica report found not only did Thomas receive lavish gifts from Republican billionaire Harlan Crow, but he maintained close ties with the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, who have had cases heard before the court.
Martin Luther King III, chairman of the board of the Drum Major Institute, told theGrio, “The time is now to stand and fight for a Supreme Court that will protect, rather than attack, our rights and our democracy.”
“This poll shows that leaders who push for Supreme Court reform will have Black voters standing with them when they do so,” said the son of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
King’s wife and president of the Drum Major Institute, Arndrea Waters King, told theGrio, “Black voters have time and again led the fight to make America live up to its ideals of democracy and equal justice under the law.”
“Building a just, inclusive democracy requires reforming the Supreme Court,” she added, “and it’s clear Black voters are ready to lead that effort yet again.”
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