In the wake of Chief Justice John Roberts' confirmation and Judge Alito's nomination, Aron's comments came at a crucial moment within the American political and judicial spheres.
The Alliance is a national organization of public interest and civil rights groups which promotes social justice and which has been aggressively critical of the Bush administration.
Aron said that she founded the Alliance in 1979 after observing a need to combat the rising conservative movement, as well as a growing need to safeguard an objective judicial system.
"There was a need for leadership around addressing a number of concerns, such as the rise of the conservative movement," Aron said. "There was a need for progressives to pool resources and talents such as addressing such threats, like the effort to pack the courts with ideologues."
In her lecture, Aron stressed the importance of the precedent set by the Supreme Court and the immense power of the body. Despite what she called the apparent apathy of much of the populace regarding the outcome of the Roberts or Alito hearings, Aron said that the direction of the Court is the paramount issue related to the country's future.
Aron, whose organization has openly opposed Alito's nomination, said that she fears that the increased rightward movement of the Court will affect much more than the issue of reproductive rights.
"I never believed for a minute that Sam Alito was picked because of the threat he posed to Roe v. Wade," Aron said. "I actually think the reason he was picked was to pack the court with justices who will uphold the expansion of presidential power, and this is where the real dangers lurk."
She stressed that a Court filled with justices who will support the President's "war on civil liberties" offers a bleak picture for the future of the country. Aron said she worries that the President's nominees will promote the war on terror by forsaking the importance of basic freedoms regarding the rights of enemy soldiers, the torture of prisoners and the privacy of Americans.
Aron distinguished the systematic manner in which President Bush has nominated conservative judges and justices from the approach of former President Clinton.
While she did not fully support all of President Clinton's nominations, Aron said that his actions regarding this issue revealed a commitment to maintaining the status quo and upholding judicial precedent.
"Bill Clinton wasn't seeking to reclaim the courts for liberals or progressives," Aron said. "He wasn't even seeking to balance the court. He was putting centrist judges and justices on [the courts]."
Yet, despite her fear of the possible effects of Bush's nominations, Aron said that America's youth can save the judicial system if they begin to question and affect the system with their participation and curiosity.
She also asserted that despite the political jargon and hyperbole surrounding the nominees, the majority of the American people do not support a right-wing agenda promoted through the Supreme Court.
She added that the people will truly realize the immense power of the judiciary if the Supreme Court begins to disregard the general will of the populace.
"I do think that perhaps at the end of the day what will really galvanize the American people is a court that is out of sync with the opinion in this country," Aron said. "Hopefully the general public will begin to understand just how powerful a hold this court has on our daily lives."
