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Demand Justice
| Demand Justice | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Top official: | Brian Fallon, executive director |
| Founder(s): | Brian Fallon and Christopher Kang |
| Year founded: | 2018 |
| Website: | Official website |
Demand Justice is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. As of February 2021, the group's website said it was "fighting to restore the ideological balance and legitimacy of the federal courts by advocating for court reform and vigorously opposing extreme nominees."[1] Brian Fallon and Christopher Kang founded the organization in 2018.[2] Demand Justice is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a non-profit that has donated money to left-leaning causes.[3]
As of February 2021, Demand Justice's website said the organization had four main goals:[4]
- Adding four seats to the Supreme Court of the United States,
- Creating term limits for justices,
- Creating a binding code of ethics for Supreme Court of the United States justices,
- Adding judges to lower courts.
Mission
As of February 2021, Demand Justice's website listed the following mission statement:
| “ | The Supreme Court has been hijacked & democracy is at stake. We are a progressive movement fighting to restore the ideological balance and legitimacy of the federal courts by advocating for court reform and vigorously opposing extreme nominees.[5][6] | ” |
Background
Brian Fallon and Christopher Kang founded Demand Justice in 2018. The founders said they wanted to promote ideological balance on the Supreme Court of the United States and other federal courts.[7]
Brian Fallon worked as an aide for Chuck Schumer. He was the director of public affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice during the Obama administration. Fallon also worked as the national press secretary for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.[8]
Christopher Kang worked as deputy counsel to former President Obama and as special assistant to the president for legislative affairs. Kang worked as national director of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. He also worked for Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin as director of floor operations and as judiciary committee counsel. As of February 2021, Kang served on the board of advisors of the American Constitution Society and the People's Parity Project.[9]
Work
Methods and goals
Demand Justice's website listed four primary goals:
| “ |
1. Restore balance by adding four seats to the Supreme Court.
|
” |
Demand Justice released a Supreme Court shortlist on its website that it said "illustrates the breadth of progressive talent available to a president committed to nominating a diverse group of justices who have spent their careers fighting to uphold the values of equal justice under the law."[11]
On August 21, 2019, Demand Justice's co-founders Brian Fallon and Christopher Kang published an op-ed in The Atlantic arguing future Democratic presidents needed to avoid picking corporate lawyers as nominees for federal courts. In the article, Fallon and Kang said, "We must stock the federal judiciary with judges who have a more diverse array of experiences, who can help their colleagues more fully understand the competing perspectives on the law that come before them."[12]
Campaigns
Impeach Brett Kavanaugh
On April 11, 2019, Demand Justice sent a coalition letter to the United States House of Representatives and called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The coalition letter asked House Democrats to launch an investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, review the FBI's investigation into Christina Blasey Ford's and Deborah Ramierz's allegations against Kavanaugh, examine Kavanaugh's records from his tenure in the George W. Bush administration, and investigate Kavanaugh's financial history. The letter also called for a review of the process Senate Republicans used to obtain the records during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing.[13]
View the coalition letter here.
Oppose Trump's appointees
Former President Donald Trump nominated two justices to the U.S. Supreme Court after Demand Justice was founded in 2018. The organization opposed the appointments of both justices.
- Demand Justice pledged to spend $10 million on ads opposing Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation in October 2020.[14]
- Demand Justice spent about $5 million on Facebook and television ads opposing Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation in October 2018.[15]
On February 27, 2019, Demand Justice released a digital ad praising Senators Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand for pledging to oppose all of Trump's appellate court nominees.[16] The ad said, "Trump's far-right judges are a threat to Medicare for All and a Green New Deal." The spot also said other Democratic Senators had not pledged to oppose Trump's nominees.
Leadership
As of February 22, 2021 the following individuals held leadership positions at Demand Justice:[17]
- Brian Fallon , Co-founder; executive director
- Christopher Kang , Co-founder; chief counsel
Finances
Demand Justice is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund. If you have financial information specific to Demand Justice, email us.
The following is a breakdown of the Sixteen Thirty Fund's revenues and expenses from 2009 to 2023. The information comes from ProPublica.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | $4.8 million | $4.4 million |
| 2010 | $0 | $0.5 million |
| 2011 | $0.1 million | $0.1 million |
| 2012 | $0.8 million | $0.4 million |
| 2013 | $5.3 million | $2.7 million |
| 2014 | $16.5 million | $10.9 million |
| 2015 | $5.6 million | $8.7 million |
| 2016 | $21.3 million | $19.7 million |
| 2017 | $79.6 million | $46.9 million |
| 2018 | $143.8 million | $141.4 million |
| 2019 | $138.4 million | $98.6 million |
| 2020 | $389.7 million | $410.0 million |
| 2021 | $190.7 million | $173.6 million |
| 2022 | $191.5 million | $195.9 million |
| 2023 | $181.4 million | $141.3 million |
Tax status
Demand Justice is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Its 501(c) status refers to a section of the U.S. federal income tax code concerning social welfare organizations.[18] Organizations that have been granted 501(c)(4) status by the Internal Revenue Service are exempt from federal income tax.[19] Section 501(c) of the U.S. tax code has 29 sections listing specific conditions particular organizations must meet in order to be considered tax-exempt under the section. Unlike 501(c)(3) organizations, however, donations to 501(c)(4) organizations are not tax-deductible for the individual or corporation making the contribution. 501(c)(4) organizations may engage in political lobbying and political campaign activities. This includes donations to political committees that support or oppose ballot measures, bond issues, recalls, or referenda.
- See also: 501(c)(4) organizations on Ballotpedia
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Demand Justice' Action. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Demand Justice , "About Us," February 23, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice , "About Us," February 23, 2021
- ↑ Influence Watch , "Demand Justice," accessed February 22, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice, "Reform the Supreme Court," accessed February 25, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice, "Why We Fight," accessed February 22, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Demand Justice , "Why We Fight," accessed February 22, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice , "Brian Fallon," accessed February 23, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice , "Christopher Kang," accessed February 23, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice, "Reform the Supreme Court," accessed February 23, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice , "Supreme Court Shortlist," accessed February 23, 2021
- ↑ The Atlantic, "No More Corporate Lawyers on the Federal Bench," accessed February 23, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice , "Impeach Brett Kavanaugh," accessed February 23, 2021
- ↑ Open Secrets , "Political ads bombard airwaves in battle over Supreme Court," accessed February 25, 2021
- ↑ Open Secrets , "Only a fraction of ‘dark money’ spending on Kavanaugh disclosed," accessed on February 25, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice, "New Demand Justice Ad in Early Nominating States Touts Harris, Gillibrand for Vowing to Oppose Key Trump Judicial Nominees," accessed February 26, 2021
- ↑ Demand Justice, "About Us," accessed February 22, 2021
- ↑ Internal Revenue Service, "IRC 501(c)(4) Organizations," accessed July 10, 2014
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