Week of June 14, 2020

1) June IGSV Meeting: Our June group meeting will be this Saturday, June 20, from 3-5 pm. The topic is “The Lasting Legacy of Judicial Nominations: The Court’s Importance at the Ballot Box”. Our guest speaker is attorney Amelia Lyte, who has her JD from Rutgers Law, clerked for a Superior Court justice in Somerset County, and is on the Clinton Township Democratic Committee. Her pet peeve is when people don’t consider judicial appointments when they vote for Presidential candidates. She’ll explain why!Please post any Judicial Branch questions that you have for Amelia in the discussion below! Please RSVP to indivisiblegsv@gmail.com to receive the Zoom link!

2) The Senate: I’ve posted this before, but it’s time for a reminder about Indivisible’s “Payback Project.” They are targeting 11 Republican Senators who are up for reelection and voted to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial. The latest polling indicates that these races are very much in play (see the latest here: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/). Please sign up to help through https://www.paybackproject.org.

3) Educate yourself: In light of the continuing marches and protests for Black Lives Matter, we should continue to support their efforts through educating ourselves. Here is one quick read to learn about the statistics that have led to the conclusion that there is systemic racism built into American systems: https://time.com/5851855/systemic-racism-america/. For those interested in learning more about the call to defund the police (whether you are for or against that idea), here’s a recent interview with Angela Davis, who has been a leader in this movement since the 1970s: https://www.democracynow.org/2020/6/12/angela_davis_on_abolition_calls_to.

4) Corruption: There is seemingly an endless amount of corruption in the Trump administration, but the lack of independent oversight is particularly problematic. Today marks the official end to State Department Inspector General Steve Linick’s tenure in that role. Please call all three of our Members of Congress to remind them that we demand transparency, oversight, and accountability in all three branches of the government, including the executive branch. You can read more about the ethical failings of the Trump administration here: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/07/02/trump-corruption-ransacking-republic/

Quote of the week: No quote this week, just a picture in honor of BLM and Pride: https://twitter.com/JCarrollFoy/status/1271788995442343936