Our Dreams Require Fixing the U.S. Supreme Court

By Dr. Signa Oliver for United for Democracy

Dr. Signa Oliver

By the time I was in fifth grade, I was convinced that I would one day be a U.S. Supreme Court justice — no one could tell me otherwise. That same audacity has since led me into rooms, into roles, and onto national stages that often leave me wondering, with a mixture of pride and awe, “how does a little Black girl from South Phoenix end up here?”

Then I think about my grandmother. As a kid, I often sat beside her polishing silverware in the homes she cleaned across Camelback Mountain. As we rubbed each fork and knife, she would fill my head with dreams and promise great things for my future.

While I did not end up following Thurgood Marshall onto the bench, I did attend the law school that bore his name and continued on to take my second oath of duty as a JAG Officer in the U.S. Army. I saw the law as a practice of integrity and of service — to this country, its Constitution, and its people.

Now, I am watching the U.S. Supreme Court justices in the supermajority make a mockery of the law. They have grabbed unprecedented amounts of power to weaponize the courtroom in pursuit of their corporate-billionaire-backed agenda. Justice Clarence Thomas has on one day allowed a billionaire to buy his mother’s home and on another voted to block eviction moratoriums during a global pandemic. Again and again, their disdain for upholding settled case law costs us our freedoms.

Now, my grandchildren are growing up with fewer rights than I did and the decisions about their lives are being ruled upon by unelected politicians-in-robes. While my grandson is learning the best spot to hide in his classroom — when he should only be focused on geometry — the high court is making it easier to turn firearms into machine guns. While my granddaughter is thinking about who she wants to be when she grows up, the high court is trading away her access to life-saving health care.

So, a few weeks ago when I heard the news that my grandson’s high school was on the list of those targeted alongside Apalachee in Georgia and I then learned at least two women died as a result of their state’s abortion ban, I again promised to fight for their futures.

That means stopping the U.S. justices from dragging them into the past.

Fortunately, there is a path forward and it starts at the ballot box. While U.S. Supreme Court justices are not elected by the American people, they are appointed, confirmed, and accountable to the leaders we elect to Congress and the White House.

My grandchildren deserve to dream as big as my grandmother taught me to. And whatever their dreams may be, I need them to have the power to chase them.

Fixing the U.S. Supreme Court will help us give power back to the people. Dreams and all.

Dr. Signa Oliver is native Phoenician, former PPD Officer, US Army Judge Advocate General Officer and currently elected to serve on the PXU Governing Board. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (University of Phoenix) and a Juris Doctor (Texas Southern University – Thurgood Marshall School of Law). Dr. Oliver is the mother of (2) + bonus children (their spouses) and GG of (8) 7 grandsons & 1 granddaughter, + 2 fur babies.