Federal Court Reform

The federal courts are not going to save us. While litigation is an important tool to protect our rights against rising authoritarianism in the current moment, building a true democracy will require us to grapple with the consequences of concentrating power in the hands of unelected, unaccountable legal elites, and engage in the structural court reform needed to actually put power in the hands of the people.

Current Campaigns

  • Raising awareness of the antidemocratic, anti-people nature of the Supreme Court and building political awareness of the harm caused by concentrating power in the hands of nine unelected lawyers.
  • Bringing people together to build toward long-term, workable strategies to disempower the justiciary, prioritizing those that have the potential to have popular support amongst both leaders and the grassroots.
  • Building a movement, in partnership with allies and our organizing base, to fight for concrete power-shifting reforms that put power back in the hands of the branches of government with true democratic legitimacy.
  • Supporting short- and medium-term work to mitigate the harm caused by the current far-right Supreme Court, including ethics reform, Supreme Court term limits and expansion, and more.

Past Highlights

Drawing attention to the role the Supreme Court played in enabling the rise of authoritarianism in the United States

Trump ‘Won’t Forget’ the Roberts Court Helped Him Win—Neither Should We

Leading public education efforts to deepen public understanding about the anti-democratic nature of the federal courts

Today’s Supreme Court is a threat to democracy — but activists plan to fight back

Publishing reports showing the path forward for advocates for structural democracy reform

The Supreme Court Is Out of Control. This Is Our Best Hope.

Conducting public opinion polling to understand how voters see courts and their anti-democratic impact

Voters Concerned by the Power of Unelected Judges and the Recent Impact of SCOTUS, Support Reforms

Bringing the next generation of political leaders into the work of structural democracy reform

The Conservative Supreme Court’s Decisions Restrict Young Americans’ Rights and Freedoms

Advocating for necessary short-term reforms to the Supreme Court to mitigate the harm caused by the far-right capture of the courts

The Supreme Court’s Legitimacy Crisis: From Recusal Issues to Blatant Partisanship