More Than 100 Activist Organizations—From Unions to Abortion, Environmental, and Gun Control Groups—Target Supreme Court
Earlier this month, over 100 left-wing activist groups—from unions to abortion-rights, environmentalists and gun control groups—aggrieved by multiple Supreme Court decisions launched a partisan campaign coalition targeting the U.S. Supreme Court and attempting to get Congress to “rein in” the high court.
“United for Democracy”, as the group calls itself, “is a new campaign launching to shine a spotlight on the impact of this Supreme Court on our families, our communities, our freedoms, and our democracy.”
Calling itself a “diverse and growing coalition of more than 100 grassroots organizations,” the group aligns the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) along with MoveOn.org, Bernie Sanders’ Our Revolution, and more than 100 others.
Launched with a $1 million ad campaign, the United for Democracy (UFD) has issued a number of press releases since its mid-June launch.
UFD’s first press release called for overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which barred the government from restricting independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations, including nonprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations.
Ironically, the call to overturn Citizens United comes despite the fact that the AFL-CIO, a federation of 56 national unions, filed an amicus brief [in PDF here] on behalf Citizens United, the organization the Supreme Court ruled in favor of more than a decade ago.
Although there are a myriad of Supreme Court decisions the coalition groups are unhappy with “most founding groups cited the court’s destruction of the national right to abortion as the big reason to unite,” notes the Marxist publication People’s World.
“Together, we believe Congress must act to rein in the extreme Supreme Court and put power back in the hands of citizens, not a few unaccountable elites,” UFD states on its website.
However, the group’s efforts are not without their challenges.
“While the U.S. Supreme Court operates independently of the other two branches of U.S. government,” explains the Americans for Fair Treatment’s Spencer Irvine, “UFD’s proposed efforts would circumvent existing checks-and-balances which are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.”
In addition to the outward-facing campaign, UFD also has a ‘take action and donate’ page.
It is unclear, however, whether the group has applied for 501c(3) or (4) status, as it states that donations are not tax deductible.
Member groups of the United for Democracy campaign include:
