New Demand Justice Ad Features John Lewis’ Warning About John Roberts’ Anti-Voting Rights Agenda

NEW DEMAND JUSTICE AD FEATURES JOHN LEWIS’ WARNING ABOUT JOHN ROBERTS’ ANTI-VOTING RIGHTS AGENDA

WASHINGTON, DC— In advance of Supreme Court oral arguments in a case that threatens key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, Demand Justice released a new television ad replaying Rep. John Lewis’ prophetic warning about the threat that now-Chief Justice John Roberts poses to civil rights.

On Tuesday, the Court will hear oral arguments in cases that the Republican-appointed justices may use to strike down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. In 2013, the Roberts Court struck down a core section of the VRA, leading to an explosion in voter suppression tactics. 

The ad’s narrator says: “John Lewis marched and bled so the Voting Rights Act could become law. But now John Roberts and his Supreme Court are set to destroy his legacy. Lewis warned us about Roberts. In 1965, opponents of voting rights swung clubs on a bridge at Selma. Today, they sit on the highest Court. Tell Congress: Pass the new John Lewis Voting Rights Act and reform the Supreme Court.”  

The ad includes a clip of Lewis testifying against Roberts’ confirmation, saying: “[Roberts’] record demonstrates such a strong desire to reverse the hard won civil rights gains.”

The ad can be viewed here. It will play on television in Washington, D.C..

John Roberts has worked to reverse key voting protections since working in the Reagan administration in the 1980s. In 2005, civil rights hero and Rep. John Lewis testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he feared that “if Judge Roberts is confirmed to be Chief Justice of the United States, the Supreme Court would no longer hear the people’s cries for justice” and warned that “Roberts’ memos reveal him to be hostile toward civil rights, affirmative action, and the Voting Rights Act.