MLK III: Supreme Court’s 'MAGA supermajority' must be 'reined in' to 'save democracy'

In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court is way to the right of where it was when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive. King saw the High Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren (a Republican appointee of President Dwight D. Eisenhower), advance civil liberties with historic decisions like Loving v. Virginia (1967), Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

In an op-ed published by the Guardian on Martin Luther King Day 2024, two long-time civil rights activists — Martin Luther King III (MLK's oldest son, now 66) and Arndrea Waters King (King III's wife) — warn that the Roberts Court is on a collision course with civil liberties.

"Everywhere you look," the Kings lament, "you will see the story of a Supreme Court that has radicalized in service of its billionaire donors at the expense of Black Americans — gutting union power to attack workers' rights, rolling back the clock on reproductive rights to strip people of the ability to make their own healthcare decisions, decimating environmental protections in service of corporations. After all, Black workers continue to have a higher union membership rate than white workers, despite making up just 14 percent of the U.S.' total population."

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The Kings continue, "Black women have 2.6 times the maternal mortality rate of white women. Black and Latino voters are disproportionately targeted by state-based voter suppression laws that require ID checks to cast a ballot."

The activists stress that the Roberts Court's "MAGA supermajority" has "undone established rulings and legal norms in an attempt to reverse the progress of modern America and to systematically unravel Black political power."

"As the extreme right-wing plot to capture our democracy progresses," they warn, "we need our elected officials to step in and do their jobs. That's why we — alongside United for Democracy — are calling on leaders in Congress to rein in the Supreme Court. Congress must conduct immediate hearings, investigations and reforms to fix the institution that is harming the Americans it is tasked to protect. With the election right around the corner, and in the face of endless attacks aimed at dismantling my father's legacy, Black voters will again be expected to 'save democracy.'"

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Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King's full op-ed for The Guardian is available at this link.