By Anne Levin

Speakers at the “Supreme Injustice” rally set for Sunday, October 20 on Hinds Plaza plan to encourage those in attendance to actively oppose recent decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court in the areas of health care, environmental protections, and gun safety laws.

New Jersey State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, the Rev. Robert Moore of the Coalition for Peace Action and Ceasefire New Jersey, and representatives of Empower NJ, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey, and the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice are among those who will speak at the 2 p.m. gathering “to oppose far right extremist and corrupt decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court,” reads a release about the event.

The rally will urge attendees and observers to take action to demand Supreme Court justices “are not bought and paid for by the highest bidder,” the release continues, “and must follow an enforceable code of ethics. Some of our Supreme Court justices have been bribed by oligarchs to issue decisions removing power from the people and awarding it to corporations who place profit over public health and safety. There has been a right-wing extremist, corrupt takeover of the Court, and we demand a return to a code of ethics that is followed by every other judge in this country.”

The rally is co-sponsored by Indivisible Cranbury, the Coalition for Peace Action, Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO), and Indivisible Highland Park.

“Everyone is talking about the Supreme Court,” said Laura Zurfluh of Indivisible Cranbury, who put the event together. “When President Biden came out with his suggestions about this, I thought this was something we could finally rally behind.”

Moore will address the decisions that have weakened gun laws across the country.

“Numerous gun violence prevention laws have been severely weakened by recent Supreme Court decisions,” he said in the release. “Just to take one example, Concealed Carry of Guns permits have skyrocketed from 1,500 to 45,000 thirty-fold since the Bruen decision [expanding second amendment rights], meaning 30 times as many New Jersey residents are carrying concealed guns as before the decision.”

Charlie Kratovil of Empower NJ will speak on the recent environmental rollbacks, including the overturning of the Chevron deference. Tatiana Castrillon of Planned Parenthood will talk about the impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the 20 states that now band or restrict abortion. Sara Wasserman of the Rustin Center will focus on the attack on LGBTQ rights, and Zwicker will talk about how people can protect themselves against some of these decisions.

“There are some congressional bills we can request support for,” said Zurfluh, “and he will speak about making sure to elect state legislators protecting us from repercussions. Mostly what this is about is constituent power. It’s hard not to be pessimistic. But there is power that was given to us by the founding fathers, and it’s a powerful tool.”

Zurfluh, who is a veterinarian, started Indivisible Cranbury in 2017. She sees a parallel between what she does for a living and her social activism.

“I use my voice to speak for those who are voiceless, and that’s what I’m doing here with immigrants, the downtrodden, refugees, and people the government has left behind,” she said.

The rally begins at 2 p.m. Visit peacecoalition.org for more information.