Over the last 48 hours, the Conservative Majority on the United States Supreme Court has succeded in turning the clock back on affirmative action college acceptance guidance for minorities, sanctioning bigotry under the guise of free speech against all groups a prejudiced person has a problem with, and overruling the Biden/Harris Administration’s attempt to offer student loan forgiveness to millions of Americans.
Reaction to these rulings among some of Arizona’s leading Democratic Leaders and Candidates has been swift and consistent in condemning these back to the pre-Civil Rights Dark Ages court decisions.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, reacting to the decision sanctioning bigotry masquerading as free speech, issued a statement that read:
“Today, a woefully misguided majority of the United States Supreme Court has decided that businesses open to the public may, in certain circumstances, discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans. While my office is still reviewing the decision to determine its effects, I agree with Justice Sotomayor – the idea that the Constitution gives businesses the right to discriminate is “profoundly wrong.”
Despite today’s ruling, Arizona law prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation, including discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity. If any Arizonan believes that they have been the victim of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, or ancestry in a place of public accommodation, they should file a complaint with my office. I will continue to enforce Arizona’s public accommodation law to its fullest extent.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego posted:
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero cited her own personal experiences in several posts, including:
Phoenix Vice Mayor and Arizona House Congressional District (CD) Three Candidate Yassamin Ansari posted:
Former Arizona State Legislator, 2022 CD Six Nominee, and 2024 House Candidate Kirsten Engel posted:
Phoenix Councilwoman, former City Vice Mayor, and Arizona CD Three Candidate Laura Pastor wrote:
“Legal discrimination is back. With the Supreme Court reversing decades of precedent and generational policies that have promoted equity and inclusion, the so-called Conservatives on the Court have aligned themselves and their values with those privileged few rather than the values that define our nation. The notion that a completely fictitious story about a website could be used by the Court to establish the “right” of a business owner to discriminate against someone because of who they love is abhorrent and offensive to me – as it should be to anybody – and must not stand. The Supreme Court just attacked fairness and protected privilege. In Congress, I’ll work to make sure everyone has a fair shot at a college education – no matter your background.”
Arizona Congressional District Four House Representative Greg Stanton posted:
Arizona CD Seven Representative Raul Grijalva issued a couple of posts, including:
Several Democratic Members of the Arizona State Legislature, including two from the Arizona LGBTQ Caucus, offered their views through press releases on the Supreme Court’s reactionary rulings. These included:
Assistant Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos said:
“Talent is equally distributed in our communities and in our society, but opportunity is not. That is a historic fact and a generational wrong that affirmative action has sought for decades to correct in our country, with many success — Justice Clarence Thomas among them. Now, a rightward ideological shift that has occurred in the Supreme Court (but not in our country) seeks to undo that progress. It is simply wrong for this Court to deliberately hamstring successful and impactful efforts by colleges and universities to create opportunities for qualified, but disadvantaged, students of color while leaving legacy and donor-influenced admissions intact. That only widens the disparity. As a child of immigrants, my life has been immeasurably impacted for the better by education. We cannot let this decision be used to deny that same opportunity to the next generation. Democrats are as committed as ever to ending discrimination and providing equal opportunity for all Americans, and this misguided decision only deepens our resolve.”
Rep. Quantá Crews, who chairs the Legislature’s Black Caucus, added:
“I find it disheartening that 59 years after the ratification of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 we find ourselves revisiting affirmative action. One generation is simply not enough to rectify the many injustices that institutional racism has wrought against black and brown communities worldwide. Yes, our communities have made progress; a major player in those successes is affirmative action. American institutions didn’t wake up and choose to do the right thing by admitting qualified students of color. They were forced to by the very policy the Supreme Court has overturned. Those ideologies and ignorant ways of thinking are still informing education admissions and employment decisions. Racism has yet to die. This is evidenced by the recent viral video released of a teacher calling a high school student the n-word. That is just one, we have countless recent examples. Discrimination runs rampant in every corner of American life. Progress doesn’t mean racism is eradicated and we won’t stop fighting until justice for all is a reality. The dream was great but it simply won’t do.”
Leader and LGBTQ Caucus Co-Chair Oscar De Los Santos, on the decision affecting the LGBTQ Community, wrote:
“In a free, fair, and democratic society, we have no room for social castes or second-class citizens.
The United States’ greatest promise is equality under the law. But today’s Supreme Court decision undermines that cherished value by pronouncing that LGBT Arizonans can be singled out and denied goods and services at public businesses.
But this decision doesn’t only affect the LGBT community. It also opens the door to racial and religious discrimination. As a result of this decision, a bigoted website designer can refuse to create a website for a Catholic couple and an antisemitic artist can refuse to create invitations to a Bar Mitzvah.
As Democrats, we stand with the vast majority of Arizonans who believe in equality for all.”
LGBTQ Caucus Co-Chair LD 12 Representative Patty Contreras stated:
“This decision by the Supreme Court is an ominous step backward on civil rights for our country, which has been a beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. In its zeal to deny equal rights to the LGBTQ community, the extremists who pursued this lawsuit have opened the door to create a religious right to discriminate against protected classes, and even other religions, under the ironic guise of free speech. Where does it end? This will embolden businesses that want to discriminate, and their discrimination won’t just be limited to our community.
Gay marriage is legal in our country. If you are open for business, you should be open for business for all. Taking away hard-won civil rights is a terrible message to send to the world as we celebrate our Independence Day.”
Representative Cesar Aguilar relayed on the Student Loan Decision:
“For far too long student loan providers who work with the federal government have profited off the backs of Americans seeking higher education, generating $5 billion a month on student loans. With this extreme Supreme Court ruling against President Biden’s Student Debt Cancelation plan, Americans will have less money in their pockets to pay for bills, goods, and services strained by inflation. This action will lead to less consumer spending and will reduce economic growth.
Nearly 900,000 mostly younger Arizonans hold student debt, about 13 percent of our population and the 15th highest number of borrowers in the country. When Republicans say this court decision will impact wealthier Americans, they are wrong. This ruling impacts the middle class who took out loans to afford to go to college. The conversation around student loans also must center on who is actually profiting off the backs of people seeking to contribute to our economy and society. When families are spending their whole lives paying for student debt, how is that right, or even legal?
President Biden reminded everyone today that taxpayers bailed out businesses by forgiving PPP loans during the pandemic, which cost the nation $760 billion. In comparison, the President’s plan to cancel student debt would have benefited middle-income working families who were also impacted by the pandemic and would have cost only $400 billion, but with stronger economic benefits throughout the whole state as younger Arizonans could have bought homes, started businesses and grown their families free from crushing student debt.”
Matt Grodsky, the Vice President of Matters of State Strategies, commented:
“The Supreme Court has once again handed Democratic candidates strong talking points and wedge issues to leverage in 2024. It will be incumbent upon campaigns and state parties to effectively message these rulings to swing voters.”
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The website designer case was a very narrow decision to only apply to expressive actions. To suggest that it would allow a restaurant owner to deny service to a person in a protected class is ridiculous. Restaurant service or other retail service is not expressive. And I have to wonder if the people on the left who are claiming that such discrimination is now allowed would actually testify in a court that such is the case, if a situation like that were before court.
You are not naive John. There are going to be many individuals, based on this decision, that are going to push the envelope and see if the Justices let them use their basic freedoms to be a bigot to.
There is a massive hypocrisy in these rulings, especially by Repubs. Private schools should not allow any past or present racial discrimination acts modify their admissions policies. Yet the same Repubs have no probem with elite and not so elite charter schools “de-selecting” certain students because their likely test scores may be lower, or their special needs cost too much. The same Repubs have no problem with money laundered vouchers going to private schools that have, who knows what, admissions polcies. And the State doesnt want to know.
The tragedy is they don’t even try too hard to hide their intellectual dishonesty. The Hateful Six pre-determine an outcome, then hunt and peck to find some rationale. Maybe in the Magna Carta, or Justinian or Ringlemann’s Chart, or an Edmund Burke Quote. Maybe refight liability in the Triangle Fire case.
“Maybe in the Magna Carta, or Justinian or Ringlemann’s Chart, or an Edmund Burke Quote. Maybe refight liability in the Triangle Fire case.”
Wouldn’t be surprising. Remember Justice Scalito cited a 17th Century witch burner in overturning Roe vs. Wade:
“Justice Alito’s leaked opinion cites Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century jurist who conceived the notion that husbands can’t be prosecuted for raping their wives, who sentenced women to death as “witches,” and whose misogyny stood out even in his time.” https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-roe-wade-alito-scotus-hale
The corrupted, partisan Roberts Court is off the rails, recklessly wielding their power, attempting to destroy more than 50 years of Democratic achievements with their 6-3 majority of corrupt, paid off, and/or incompetent grifters and liars.
Most Americans disagree with their latest rulings as well as overturning Roe v Wade last year.
This is tyranny, pure and simple.
Anyone remember when Roberts cared “about his legacy?”
During his confirmation hearings Roberts opined that his job was to “call balls and strikes”. As an unknown baseball fan once said about an umpire: “If he had a third eye he’s be a Cyclops!”
I just hope that these horrible decisions, and future ones by this renegade Court, causes President Biden to rethink his opposition to expanding the Court and nullifying these six ethically and morally corrupt jerks. Mr President, “our nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you”.
When I moved to AZ, I thought Arizonans didn’t just want it to be “like” the 1800s, they wanted it to “be” the 1800s. I was mistaken. It’s not just Arizonans, most republicans and gqp/gop, across the nation, want a return to the 1800s. The gqp/gop republicans have modified the old saw to, “murica, where mens is mens and everything else is slaves or property.” MAGA morons are a pandemic of brainless, dead zombies feeding off the money of oligarchs.