Local students lead rally calling for U.S. Supreme Court seat to stay open

A group of local high school students led a rally outside the South Carolina State House Wednesday calling for federal lawmakers to leave open Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s former Supreme Court seat.

Though the demonstration was organized by A.C. Flora students, members of the University of South Carolina’s American Civil Liberties Union, the Columbia NAACP, and other public figures such as a local attorney and a state representative joined the protest.

“This is what Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought for, to have all these young women put this together,” said Lee Coggiola, a Columbia attorney and USC adjunct professor.

Lily Lawther, a sophomore at A.C. Flora who helped organize the event, led the crowd of just under 100 in chants of “Our court, our voice, let the people have a choice” and “no confirmation without inauguration.”

“Of course we would love to expand our reach outside Flora, but we have only been at it for a few months and COVID has made it extremely difficult,” Lawther said.

Much of the discontent during the demonstration was directed toward U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., who pushed to delay a vote on Merrick Garland when Barack Obama was president and is now pushing for President Donald Trump’s appointee to be confirmed before the election.

“Political leaders need to keep their word and stop flip-flopping,” said Oveta Glover, the president of the Columbia chapter of the NAACP.

Mackenzie Watson, 33, asked if she had a message for Graham, said, “I hope you have your bags packed because Jamie Harrison is going to be taking your seat.”

Protesters emphasized the social changes that could result from another conservative on the U.S. Supreme Court, such as rolling back the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion.

“I’m really terrified the new nominee is going to take away reproductive rights,” said Sarah Hudock-Jeffrey, the education officer with the USC ACLU chapter.

S.C. Rep. Ivory Thigpen, D-Richland, who spoke at the event, urged people to register to vote for the upcoming election.

“Not only do our voices matter, our votes matter,” Thigpen said.

This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 7:57 PM.