Washington, DC—Margaret Mead once said “Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world.” And the Activists of SCOTUS6 Action Group have taken her words to heart, going to the homes of Supreme Court Justices for 6 weeks now, creating an unignorable presence outside and gaining a lot of media attention nationally, in the mainstream media and on social media.
But on Monday morning they ramped up action to a higher level of civil disobedience by forming a human blockade at the entrances to the Supreme Court. They had planned their civil disobedience actions with other umbrella groups spearheaded by Shut Down DC, which is also based in Washington DC.
Their plan was to block the entrances to the Supreme Court so the Associate Justices and their staff could not get to work on Monday which is typically the day rulings are handed down. It was possible the final ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health majority opinion would be released on Monday, but as the last of the rulings were issued at about 11:00 am, Dobbs was not among them. The Dobbs decision will be released in the coming weeks and possibly near the end of June as the last rulings issued come in late June for Supreme Court sessions.
The Dobbs ruling is all but certain to be made in favor of the conservative majority as it was previously mapped out in the unauthorized release in Samuel Alito’s draft majority opinion. This ruling will trigger a flurry of overturns of Roe v. Wade in the 26 States already signaling they want to overturn reproductive rights.
With a conservative ruling in favor of Dobbs, the rights of 63 million Americans to the agency over their own bodies, and to make their own personal decision of whether or not to carry a pregnancy to full-term, would be removed from Federal statute, sent to the States to decide, and effectively overturn Roe v. Wade, a benchmark ruling that has been the law of the land for 50 years.
A Supreme Court decision in favor of Dobbs would not end all abortions outright across the U.S. as there are still 24 States that will support Roe v. Wade in their State statutes. But in the 26 States already signaling they plan to overturn Roe v. Wade, it will result in travel out of State for those needing and wanting reproductive healthcare and that is something many in Southern States will not be able to afford.
This ruling will also result in an unfair imbalance across the nation in the personal liberties of individuals to reproductive rights healthcare, a condition which the Supreme Court will someday be forced to revisit.
It is for the victims of this imbalance of liberties that activists are waging their campaign of civil disobedience.
Supreme Court Shutdown
Early Monday morning the SCOTUS6 Action Group Ground Team met at Stanton Park along with other activists from umbrella groups, including Extinction Rebellion, a climate action group, under the larger umbrella of Shutdown DC, a direct action rights group based in DC.
From there the demonstration proceeded down Massachusetts Avenue and turned towards the Supreme Court on 1st Street. A group of forced-birth antagonists attempted to block them and a skirmish of bullhorns and jostling resulted in the antagonists being forced back. While tempers flared there were no injuries or arrests observed or reported (see DCMG video below).
Smaller groups broke off from the main body to block Supreme Court entrances to carports on 2nd Street at both Maryland Avenue and East Capitol Street.
The SCOTUS6 Action Group walked to 2nd and East Capitol Streets where they formed a human blockade. Police finished the intent of the activists by functionally shutting down the streets with barricades and lines of officers in order to prevent activists from gaining access to the carport entrances proper. At one point there were 50 officers but only 18 activists at 2nd and East Capitol Streets. The number of activists increased to over 100 as others joined them from other points in the action. The staff of the Supreme Court were blocked from access and police turned them away to find access elsewhere.
Meanwhile Extinction Rebellion blocked the carport entrance at 2nd and Maryland Avenue. Police kettled them and they were detained but soon after released without charges.
As the action began to wind down, Dr. Sophia Marjanovic, from the Court Accountability Project and ShutdownDC said, “The thing is people like you and me always stick together and we win eventually. We’re going to keep organizing together, doing our mutual aid because that is what actually wins. This is what they’re afraid of,”
Activists Planned Blockade For Weeks
The SCOTUS6 Action Group has been planning this action for weeks and spent a lot of time preparing for it through the rigors of street actions they undertook by going to the homes of all the right-wing justices over a sustained period..
They have received a lot of support from neighbors of some of the Justices, especially in Samuel Alito’s neighborhood in the Township of Fort Hunt, Virginia. Last Monday, neighbors on his street waved and thanked the SCOTUS6 Action Group for their perseverance while some joined them outside to engage in conversation about their action. One resident brought their toddler out to dance to their music and chants. Several teenagers followed them on bikes—one of the local neighbors extemporaneously joined them and carried a sign with them. Another celebrated the spirit of their resistence with a glass of wine as the demonstration passed her home.
Other neighbors have not been so nice about it, especially outside the private developments where Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch reside. While the Activists are not allowed inside the developments some neighbors have driven by them as they stand near the entrances, name calling, cursing, and gesturing at them. They’re unfazed by the negative attention and laugh it off—mostly.
Police lined the street outside Alito’s in unmarked vans and dark windowed vehicles to make sure they didn’t do anything wrong—and they haven’t done anything more than protest and chant on bullhorns as they walk by holding their signs. They are decidedly a non-violent action group.
If one were to believe any of the reports in the right-wing media it would seem they are breaking laws against intimidating Justices and should be arrested for breaking statutes forbidding the harassment of Federal Judges.
They haven’t broken any windows.
They haven’t threatened anyone.
They haven’t littered or spray-painted cars, sidewalks, or mailboxes, and if they had, one of any of the dozens of law enforcement waiting for them outside the homes would certainly have arrested them by now.
On the contrary, a designated representative of the SCOTUS6 Action Group has set up liaison with local police agencies and speaks to a representative of police before or during each action to make sure that ordinances and laws are not broken and the rights of others are not violated. Any allegations in right-wing media are unfounded or designed to distract viewers from the important issues: the removal of liberties once granted by the High Court.
“For the Supreme Court to change its mind on a law so basic as Roe v. Wade is going to create a lot of angry people because it can’t give half the population a right and then 50 years later decide to take it away simply because someone changed the Court with conservative people who disagree with that law,” said Carol, a feminist from Atlanta. “Its also going to create certain chaos as they plan to take other rights away like same sex marriage and [LGBTQ] rights—and they will if they do this,” they said.
SCOTUS6 Not Backing Down From Action
Margaret Meade also wrote, “The way to do fieldwork is never to come up for air until it is all over.” And the SCOTUS6 Action Group has kept a frenetic pace going to homes nearly every day of the week and planning their actions on the off days. Logistics take up a lot of time and money. Questions need to be answered and needs require immediate attention with every action because attendees and resources change daily. Questions like who is going to carpool who to where; who is going to bring signs; provide water, food, bullhorns, batteries, liaising with police, safety, etc., all have to dealt with. Often they are up to late hours filling in all the blanks of the questions members ask to make things work.
The Activists of SCOTUS6 Action Group have been going to the homes of Supreme Court Justices for 6 weeks now, creating inconvenience and noise ouside the Justices’ homes. It has readied them for today’s action.
Their efforts are being noticed online too and it has gotten allies to join them. Among them is Dragon, a skilled musician who helped create the band Resistance Company. He brings his amplifier, drums and guitar to the actions and has turned chants into musical treats the activists enjoy. It creates a buoyant mood and energizes the activists. One could easily mistake an action as a party-like atmosphere though the issue is very serious—Dragon has taken a heavy issue and difficult issue and created a scene of positive vibrations with his amazing musical abilities and creativity. It is not easy playing a drum with one’s foot while singing and playing a guitar but he does it.
See video of Dragon on twitter here.
Bodily Autonomy—A Ruling Would Affect More Than Cis Women
A large part of the fight for bodily autonomy and reproductive justice is led by cisgender women, that is, women whose gender matches their biological sex. Though this is incredibly vital, cis women are not the only population affected by the loss of safe reproductive care, said Thiel (they/them) who wanted to draw the distinction that the reproductive healthcare rights issue affects many identities.
“Many transgender people also have uteruses; this includes trans men, intersex people, and nonbinary people, just to name a few. These folks still deserve their basic human rights, and they definitely deserve to be part of the larger conversation around decisions regarding their bodies. We’ve been intentional about including this intersectionality in our signage and our messaging – that this is an LGBTQ+ issue as well as a women’s issue,” said Thiel.
“Further, the leaked draft which would remove abortion protections also cites the “right to privacy” as something these justices view as an impediment to their goals – which sets a dangerous precedent to further remove rights such as marriage choice and sexual safety and privacy, and further endangers the very existence of trans and gender non-conforming people. Bodily autonomy not only covers access to safe, legal, and affordable abortion care, but it also covers all aspects of gender expression and medical transition; trans folks are already targeted enough as it is and this ruling will serve as another avenue to endanger their lives.“
Thiel said that when the Activists show up to the marches at the justices’ homes, they hope to amplify the voices of the millions of people with uteruses whose lives will be devastated by this ruling; They hope to make it clear to the fundamentalists in power that the people they’re meant to represent do not stand behind them in this, and that we will continue to fight for these basic human rights.
“They’ve been trying to duck away from the dissent, so part of the point behind these non-violent organized actions is to bring local and national attention to their backwards views and to say that we are not being adequately represented and in fact, are being actively threatened, by these six justices who would rather see us hide in fear than hear us speak our minds.”
See @DCMediaGroup on twitter and tic toc and follow @RuthSent on tic toc for video shorts and livestream of this action.
