Approved: 10/21/2020
A RESOLUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON
Regarding Appointment of Replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court of the United States
WHEREAS, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s distinguished service on the U.S. Supreme Court shaped our country and its laws at every level; and
WHEREAS, President Obama honored the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s death and took 33 days to make a nomination, but President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett at a White House Rose Garden super-spreader event on September 26., only eight days after Justice Ginsburg’s death and three days before her burial alongside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery, and,
WHEREAS, Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination was made 237 days prior to the 2016 presidential election, but Trump nominated Barrett only 38 days prior to the 2020 presidential election, and
WHEREAS, President Trump and U.S. Senators McConnell and Graham intend to nominate and confirm Barrett within 38 days of Justice Ginsburg’s death, at the most only five days more than the 33 President Obama took to nominate Judge Garland following Justice Scalia’s death; and
WHEREAS, when Justice Scalia died in February 2016, Senate Republicans insisted that his seat not be filled due to the presidential election about nine months away, and,
WHEREAS, voting is already underway for the American electorate in at least 36 states; and
WHEREAS, Senators McConnell and Graham have now disavowed their statement about Supreme Court vacancies after a presidential election cycle has begun and scheduled Judge Barrett’s Senate Judiciary Committee and full-Senate confirmation votes no more than 10 days prior to the election of our next president and Senate; and
WHEREAS, Judge Barrett has made clear her objection to Chief Justice Roberts’ ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Supreme Court will be hearing California v. Texas on November 10, one week following the election, which could undo the ACA; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has, according to the CDC killed over 219,000 Americans to date; and
WHEREAS, striking down the ACA would effectively strip healthcare insurance from tens of millions of Americans, voiding current coverage for people with pre-existing conditions (which would now include COVID-19 victims) and denying them access to affordable healthcare, jeopardizing their welfare by rendering medical services and vital prescriptions (including contraception) unaffordable; and
WHEREAS, Judge Barrett has refused to recuse herself from any cases and proceedings involving the 2020 Presidential Election if confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, Judge Barrett has served as a paid speaker five times since 2011 for a legal fellowship run by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as an anti-LGBTQ hate group; and
WHEREAS, Judge Barrett has made numerous statements that indicate a pattern of regressive and extreme positions on workers’ rights, corporate power, immigration, civil rights, and reproductive freedom; and
WHEREAS, the prospect of an American presidential election being decided by disproportionate, undemocratic means—such as the intent to throw the outcome to the Supreme Court with a then confirmed Associate Justice Barrett as the deciding vote—threatens the sanctity of the American constitutional republic.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. That no justice(s) shall be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court prior to swearing in of the 117th Congress on January 3, 2021 and the presidential inauguration on January 20, 2021.
Section 2. That any justice nonetheless nominated by Donald Trump and approved by the Republican Senate majority, must self-recuse from any case involving the 2020 elections or his conduct in office.
Section 3. That Oregon’s U.S. Senators should vote against the appointment of Judge Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court and resist any attempts to confirm her or any other Supreme Court nominees before the conclusion of a free, fair 2020 Presidential election.
Submitted by Michelle Risher, DPO Vice Chair, Rosa Colquitt, Black Caucus, and Spencer Trumm, Multnomah County
Forwarded to the SCC by the Administration Committee
