Rep. Mejia Convenes Voting Rights Forum Marking 158th Anniversary of the 14th Amendment
Legal experts, civil rights advocates, and community leaders joined the Congresswoman to discuss threats to equal protection and the freedom to vote
MONTCLAIR, NJ — Today, Rep. Analilia Mejia (NJ-11) hosted "Defending Democracy: The 14th Amendment and Voting Rights Act Forum" at Montclair State University, bringing together legal experts, civil rights advocates, and community members to mark the 158th anniversary of the 14th Amendment's ratification and examine growing threats to equal protection, due process, and the right to vote.
Rep. Mejia and panelists traced the 158-year arc of the 14th Amendment, from its roots in the fight for voting rights to the landmark rulings on marriage equality and bodily autonomy it helped make possible. That progress now faces real threats, from the Supreme Court's rollback of key Voting Rights Act protections to new legislation like the SAVE America Act aimed at making it harder to register and vote. The conversation dug into how we arrived at this moment, what is genuinely at risk for everyday New Jerseyans right now, and the concrete steps advocates, courts, and lawmakers must take to rebuild and defend the amendment for the next 158 years.
The forum comes as Rep. Mejia leads the Defend the 14th Amendment Task Force alongside House Democrats, a coalition she launched this week to push back against efforts to weaken constitutional protections for equal protection, due process, and citizenship.
“So many Americans don't realize how much of their daily lives are shaped by the 14th Amendment, from the right to vote to the right to marry who you love, the right to citizenship by birth, and the right to make decisions about your own body. These protections were not handed to us. We fought for them, amendment by amendment, ruling by ruling, and we can lose them the same way if we stop paying attention. That is why events like today's forum matter,” said Congresswoman Mejia. “We brought together legal experts, advocates, and our neighbors to break down how we got here, what is at stake right now, and how we rebuild and protect these rights going forward. This work does not end today. I lead the Defend the 14th Amendment Task Force in Congress, and I will keep pairing public education with legislative action, because an informed community is one of our strongest defenses against losing the rights this amendment guarantees.”
The forum featured a keynote address from Nuzhat Chowdhury of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, followed by a panel discussion with Erik Cruz-Morales of the League of Women Voters, DaWuan Norwood of the ACLU, Milena Bimpong of New Jersey’s League of Conservation Voters, and Roslyne Shaio of AAPI New Jersey. The event closed with a conversation between Rep. Mejia and Reverend Charles Boyer of Salvation and Social Justice. Partner organizations supporting the forum included New Jersey LCV, Salvation and Social Justice, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and the ACLU.