Lambda Legal Welcomes Announcement of President Biden’s Commission on Court Reform

Following the announcement today that President Biden will create the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, Sharon McGowan, Legal Director and Chief Strategy Officer at Lambda Legal, released the following statement:

“Lambda Legal welcomes a thoughtful and critical conversation about the role that our courts, including the Supreme Court, play not only as part of our democratic system but also in the lives of everyday people. The problem of grossly overburdened and under-resourced federal courts is longstanding.  And now we have the damage to the credibility of the judiciary done during the four years of the Trump Administration. This Commission is a step in the right direction to examine the state and health of our third branch of government and its relation to the state of our democracy.

“However, we are a little disappointed that the Commission does not include more people who currently are engaged in the practice of law, as litigators observe and have to deal every day with the ways in which our legal system is failing those whom it was created to serve. These should not be treated as primarily subjects for academic analysis. The Commission should get input from practitioners, including civil rights attorneys, public defenders and other legal advocates who represent and interface with not only LGBTQ people but communities of color, undocumented people and other vulnerable populations. The work of the Commission will be helpful, but other important conversations can and should continue with urgency about what steps are needed to improve access to justice and restore the integrity of our federal courts.”