The Supreme Court of the United States is more skewed to the right at the
present time than it has been for over a generation. Hard and partisan bending of
Senate rules as well as the timely retirement of an octogenarian judge has
allowed the impeached former president to place three nominees on SCOTUS
and 230 nominees on other federal courts.
As our country struggles against threats to our democracy, we do not yet
know how this imbalance will affect us. Impending on the list are threats to a
women’s right to choose, voting rights and hard-won LGBTQ rights. The Roberts
court in 2000 decided Bush v Gore for Bush even though only a few Florida
counties had been recounted. How will this new court decide if an election is
close? Will they continue to support the new voter suppression laws and
gerrymandering? How will they judge the new laws allowing partisan control of
election officials?
Join us as our nationwide panel of experts discusses how SCOTUS could
impact these pressing issues for our rights and our democracy.
SPEAKERS:
Dwight M. Bullard is the Senior Political Advisor of Florida Rising. Leading
the organization to bring political education and awareness to underserved and
often marginalized communities, he uplifts people in a way that makes them the
masters of their own destiny. In 2008, he was sworn into office as representative
of District 118 and was reelected subsequently. In 2012, Senator Bullard was
elected to the Florida Senate, where he served as Vice Chair of the
Transportation and Agriculture committees. He reserves membership in the
Democrats of South Dade Club, the Ron Brown Democratic Caucus, 100 Black
Men of South Florida, and many more organizations.
Douglas Keith is counsel in the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, where
he works primarily to promote fair, diverse, and impartial courts. Previously, he
was the George A. Katz Fellow at the Brennan Center, working on matters
related to money in politics, voting rights, and redistricting. Keith’s work has been
featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Atlantic, Guardian, New
York Daily News, and Huffington Post.
Keith previously worked as a Ford Foundation public interest law fellow at
Advancement Project, organized voting rights advocates in New York, served as
an international election observer for the National Democratic Institute and OSCE
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and trained poll workers for
the New York City Board of Elections. Keith is a graduate of NYU School of Law
and Duke University.
Judge Alli B Majeed – Our much admired Senior Judge Alli B Majeed, 2021
Community Leader of the Year, was the first Florida statewide elected official of
color. His path from childhood in the Guyana rainforest to longest serving
Brevard County Judge reflects his character and inspires the Space Coast
community.
Former state attorney and assistant public defender, Phi Beta Kappa and
magna cum laude graduate of Howard University and Columbus Law School,
Judge Majeed’s guiding principles as County Judge have been to treat everyone
with respect and above all, to avoid injustice.
Osita Nwanevu is a contributing editor at The New Republic. He is a former
staff writer at The New Yorker and Slate and his work has also appeared in
Harper’s, the Chicago Reader, and In These Times. Nwanevu is also the former
Editor-in-Chief of the South Side Weekly, an alternative weekly covering the South Side of Chicago.