(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Capitol cops there to arrest progressive leaders. Where were they when democracy needed protecting? [1]
['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-07-20
x Today, Rep. AOC was arrested along with other members of Congress outside the Supreme Court for protesting in support of abortion rights. #AbortionRightsAreHumanRights pic.twitter.com/gvj9J1o5ic — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) July 19, 2022
Capitol police arrested 35 demonstrators, allegedly for blocking a street. The detainees included 17 members of Congress, police said in a news release. “Demonstrators are starting to block First Street, NE,” Capitol police tweeted just before 1:20 PM ET. “It is against the law to block traffic, so officers are going to give our standard three warnings before they start making arrests.”
x Today, Congresswoman Escobar was arrested in front of the Supreme Court for proudly standing in defense of abortion access and reproductive freedom.
Our rights are on the line. #BansOffOurBodies pic.twitter.com/daL66p0LJD — Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) July 19, 2022
Police said they gave those warnings and started arresting the demonstrators as promised. "Today I was arrested in a civil disobedience action at the Supreme Court to protest Roe v Wade getting overturned and the assault on reproductive rights across the country," Omar, of Minnesota, tweeted. "I will do whatever it takes, including putting my body on the line, to protect our fundamental rights."
x Today I was arrested in a civil disobedience action at the Supreme Court to protest Roe v Wade getting overturned and the assault on reproductive rights across the country.
I will do whatever it takes, including putting my body on the line, to protect our fundamental rights. pic.twitter.com/iVMizylQ2Q — Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) July 19, 2022
Omar tweeted after her arrest that she will continue to do everything in her power to “raise the alarm about the assault of our reproductive rights.” She released a plan to introduce term limits for Supreme Court justices, expand the court, abolish the filibuster, and reform the Electoral College.
She wrote in the biweekly magazine, The Nation:
Congress has the constitutional authority to regulate the Supreme Court—from ethics rules to term limits to judicial review to the number of justices. We should start by creating term limits. This would ensure that each president could appoint the same number of judges, reducing partisan gamesmanship around the confirmation process, as well as making the court more representative of the will of the people. Next, we should create robust ethics rules. Currently the judiciary has little to no democratic oversight, and it is up to each justice to voluntarily recuse him- or herself from cases. Just like Congress, the high court should have binding ethics codes to prevent clear conflicts of interest and require judges to recuse themselves from cases in which they may have a personal stake. We should apply these rules to lower courts as well. Lastly, Congress can change the number of justices on the court at any time—and has done so seven times throughout history. Since 1869, the last time the high court was expanded, the US population has grown by over 800 percent, yet the court has remained stagnant at nine justices. In the face of stolen seats, a sitting justice implicated in a coup attempt, and a dangerous crisis of legitimacy, this commonsense reform should absolutely be on the table.
x I also put out a plan to fix our judiciary and save our democracy today, including:
- Term limits for SCOTUS judges
- Court expansion
- Filibuster abolition
- Electoral college reform
We need leaders willing to have bold ideas AND take bold action.
https://t.co/XsorhSWR4Q — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 20, 2022
Bush introduced legislation on Monday to preserve access to abortion medications. She said after her arrest in a tweet that she and her colleagues put their bodies on the line “because we will leave no stone unturned in our fight for justice … Bans off our bodies,” the Missouri activist added.
x @CoriBush among group of House Democrats being detained following demonstration outside SCOTUS. The group is demanding federal #abortion protections.@FOX2now pic.twitter.com/ZqKgcabdtx — Raquel Martin (@RaquelMartinTV) July 19, 2022
Maloney, of New York, said in a statement after her arrest:
There is no democracy if women do not have control over their own bodies and decisions about their own health, including reproductive care. I have the privilege of representing a state where reproductive rights are respected and protected — the least I can do is put my body on the line for the 33 million women at risk of losing their rights. The Republican Party and the right-wing extremists behind this decision are not pro-life, but pro-controlling the bodies of women, girls, and any person who can become pregnant. Their ultimate goal is to institute a national ban on abortion. We will not let them win. We will be back.
x Michigan reps @RashidaTlaib and @RepAndyLevin getting arrested together today for abortion access.
When we say safety through solidarity, when we talk about a shared future for Muslims and Jews here and across the world, this is exactly what we mean 👇pic.twitter.com/94oilZ6OmE — IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) July 19, 2022
RELATED STORY: As House Democrats work to codify marriage equality, contraception rights, Senate Republicans cringe
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/20/2111461/-Capitol-cops-there-to-arrest-progressive-leaders-Where-were-they-when-democracy-needed-protecting
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
