Planning District Office Visits for Unrigging the Supreme Court

District office visits are a great choice for an action. You can customize them to fit the tone and message you’re going for, they’re effective with both large and small groups of people, and they can be as simple or involved as you want. Some office visits start with a rally and media interviews, have big props to leave at the office, and lots of attendees. Some office visits are a small handful of people simply speaking with their MoC or their staff – both are effective!

This one pager will give you an overview of how to plan an office visit to your Democratic MoC. We have a more in-depth resource called “Building a Relationship with Your MoC” that goes into more detail about lobby meetings, office visits, and establishing a relationship with your MoC’s office.

Meeting with Your Member of Congress

Choose a Spokesperson

After your group selects an MoC to meet with, you should designate a person from your group to do most of the talking. It’s perfectly fine to have multiple people speak. But to make sure that the meeting goes smoothly for your group, it’s helpful to have a lead speaker and then others who have a specific talking point or issue that they will raise during the course of the meeting.

During the Meeting

Prepare talking points so that your group has a plan of attack to control the meeting. You can see more information about conversations with MoC staff members here. Some ideas for writing effective talking points include:

• Establish Your Legitimacy: Introduce yourselves and identify as constituents. Talk about where in the district you live, some offices may ask for specific zip codes.
• Tell Them Why You’re There: You could say, for example, that you are worried about the state of the Supreme Court and would like to discuss their plans to reform it. 
• Tell Them Your Personal Stories: How have the Supreme Court’s recent rulings affected you? How has your perception of the Court changed given those rulings or given their corruption scandals? Feel free to be honest and vulnerable. Your story matters, and you deserve the chance to share it. 
• Don’t Settle for Non-Answers: If congressional staff are dodging your question—saying they have to check back and then respond to you—be polite but firm while demanding an answer.
• Close the Meeting by Letting Them Know that You’ll Be Back: Your MoC works for you. Let them or their District Director know that you’ll be back as often as it takes to make sure that your voice is heard. Get the contact information of everyone you meet with and send a follow-up email when you get home.
• Take Pictures: Get a picture of your group at the office or, better yet, get a video of your group before, during, and after your visit. Note: Please familiarize yourself with your state and local laws that govern recording, along with any applicable Senate or House rules, prior to recording. These laws and rules vary substantially from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Unrigging the Supreme Court

There are two important bills that would help restore legitimacy to the Supreme Court  and safeguard our democracy. You can click here to learn more about each bill and see which bill you should ask your MoC to support. 

• H.R. 926: Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act (SCERT); Creates meaningful and enforceable ethical guidelines for SCOTUS as well as a binding code of conduct for all justices. 
• H.R. 3422: Judiciary Act; Expands the Supreme Court to protect our constitutional and civil rights. 

What to Say

When you go into the office, someone should be prepared to kick things off by walking up to the front desk to tell them who you are and why you’re there: you’re a local Indivisible group or activist and you’d like to speak with your MoC about protecting democracy and reforming the Supreme Court.  Ask if the MoC is available or if you can deliver your message to a staff member, such as the District Director.

You can find talking points for each bill here with some details about what’s in each bill and messaging you can use with your MoC and the press. The most important thing you bring to these office visits is your personal story, why you care about this issue. You can share as much or as little as you’re comfortable with – what makes the biggest impact is showing up and demonstrating how important this issue is to you and other voters in your district. You don’t need to know all the wonky ins and outs of any of the bills, you are a constituent not a lobbyist. If you’re asked a question you don’t know the answer to, simply write it down and report it back to your organizer. Your north star is to ask your MoC to fight back against the extreme, right-wing, corrupt Court by cosponsoring either SCERT or the Judiciary Act. You can see which ask is right for which MoC here. 

Tell them about the bill, share your personal stories, and ask them “We’re counting on you and other Democrats to protect our democracy and unrig the Supreme Court. Will you cosponsor H.R. XXX?” 

Sample Agenda

30 – 15 minutes before: Gather outside of the office to get ready, go over what everyone is doing and saying. If you have any materials you’re using or dropping off at the office, get those prepped. If you’ve invited the media, make sure your speakers and spokespeople are good to go. At least one person should also be set to take pictures and videos.

Before the event: Greet any reporters who show up. If you’ve recruited beyond your core team for the event, sign everyone in so you can follow-up with them.

(Optional) Kick-off rally or speaking program: Two or three speakers talk for about 3 minutes each about the importance of securing reproductive freedoms against extremist attacks. If applicable, publicly thank your MoC for their leadership on this issue.

If press is there, just before heading inside: Ask if they would like to speak to your spokesperson. They can also speak to others who showed up.

Visit: Head inside and start your visit!

After the visit: Thank everyone for coming and take a group picture before people leave. Make sure you’ve signed in any new faces so you can follow up with them.

Thank you for planning an office visit to your MoC! Don’t forget about our in-depth resource “Building a Relationship with Your MoC”, and reach out to your organizer or supportteam@indivisible.org for help.