Blog Posts Archive - Page 173 of 286 - People For the American Way

Show only:

November 18, 2013 8:34 pm | By Paul Gordon

Why Are Arizona’s Senators Holding Up Hearings on Arizona Judges?

Arizona's federal district courts are currently operating with six of their thirteen judgeships not only vacant but also designated as judicial emergencies, so you'd think that the state's senators would want to expedite the process of confirming five nominees to…
November 15, 2013 9:10 pm | By Paul Gordon

More GOP Efforts to Distract from DC Circuit Nullification

The Heritage Foundation has come out with a new effort to distract Americans from the illegitimacy of the GOP's effort to unilaterally eliminate the president's ability to fill vacancies on the DC Circuit. The right wing's previous arguments on this…
November 15, 2013 4:47 pm | By Diallo Brooks

GOP-Led House Continues to Block Immigration Reform

It has been 140 days of inaction since the Senate passed a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill that moves us closer to addressing our broken immigration system. But all of this progress has stalled in the GOP-led House, where they…
November 15, 2013 4:20 pm | By Peter Montgomery

Remembering Bobbie Handman

Barbara “Bobbie” Handman, a former Vice President of PFAW and PFAW Foundation, died on Thursday. For years, Bobbie’s creative energy and fierce commitment to the First Amendment shaped the organizations’ free expression work from New York City, where she was…
November 14, 2013 5:20 pm | By Peter Montgomery

Religious Freedom Anniversary Highlights Divisions Among Current and Former Allies

A symposium on the 20th anniversary of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act hosted by First Amendment advocate Charles Haynes at the Newseum in Washington D.C. on November 6 demonstrated one premise of People For the American Way Foundation’s 12 Rules…
November 13, 2013 8:28 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

NM School District Restores ‘Neverwhere’ to Curriculum Following PFAW Foundation Advocacy

Last month, PFAW Foundation sent a letter to a school district review committee in Alamogordo, New Mexico urging them to reject attempts to remove Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere from the English curriculum. Yesterday a local television station, KRQE News 13, reported…
November 13, 2013 4:48 pm | By

They Tried to Break the Federal Government. Now They’re Going After the Courts.

The astounding show of Republican recklessness that led to last month's government shutdown made one thing very clear. The new Republican Party — the one ruled by the Tea Party — isn't interested in making our government work. They want…
November 12, 2013 11:15 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

Hawaii to Become Marriage Equality State

At the beginning of last year, freedom to marry for same-sex couples was the law of the land in only six states and DC. Now, in less than a two-week span, Illinois and Hawaii have become the 15th and 16th…
November 12, 2013 5:14 pm | By Paul Gordon

Ponnuru Uses Discredited Arguments on DC Circuit

For one of the newest entries in the Republican spin war on the D.C. Circuit, check out conservative writer Ramesh Ponnuru's column in Bloomberg yesterday. The title alone – Republicans Shouldn't Let Obama Pack the Courts – tells you something…
November 8, 2013 6:55 pm | By Jen Herrick

Our ENDA mission started with Senator Kennedy

UPDATE: ENDA got its start in 1994, but ENDA was not the first attempt in Congress to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination. Such protections were part of a broad civil rights bill introduced in 1974 that protected not only sexual orientation…
November 8, 2013 5:20 pm | By Jen Herrick

Where is Speaker Boehner hiding all the good bills like ENDA?

At a press conference yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) posed a question that you might also be wondering about: Where is the secret vault in the US House where Speaker Boehner is hiding all the good bills? Leader…
November 8, 2013 2:22 pm | By Jodi Hirsh

PA Legislator Introduces ALEC Bill That Would Block Paid Sick Leave

On Tuesday, November 12, legislators will debate Pennsylvania State Representative Seth Grove’s (R) bill that would block cities and local governments in PA from implementing paid sick days bills and other forms of paid leave (domestic violence and domestic partnership leaves, for example) that aren’t…
November 7, 2013 9:58 pm | By Paul Gordon

Sen. Whitehouse Briefs PFAW Members on DC Circuit Fight

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Yesterday, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) briefed PFAW members about the fight that is building over filling the three current vacancies on the DC Circuit and the need for even more stepped-up advocacy on this. Senate Republicans…
November 6, 2013 9:51 pm | By Jen Herrick

Scenes from today’s ENDA debate – final votes tomorrow

During the Senate debate on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act today we've heard a lot about the bill's roots in the past, its relationship to American values, and how matching our laws with those values is long overdue when it comes…
November 6, 2013 5:14 pm | By Jen Herrick

Scenes from the floor on the second day of ENDA debate

Yesterday Senate debate continued on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. No new votes to report, but here are two of the many floor speeches. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), ENDA's lead sponsor: Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), supporting ENDA and calling out the…
November 6, 2013 3:38 pm | By admin

Our Country Deserves Better than ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws

The following is a guest post from Elder Jabari Paul, a member of People For the American Way’s African American Ministers in Action, following last week’s Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Stand Your Ground laws. My perspective on Stand Your…
November 5, 2013 10:31 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

Illinois to Become 15th Marriage Equality State

It’s been an exciting few days for supporters of LGBT equality. Following last night’s Senate cloture vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, today the Illinois House passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry, setting the stage for Illinois to…
November 5, 2013 9:44 pm | By Brian Tashman

Ken Cuccinelli’s Nativist Rhetoric Backfires Badly In General Election

Cross-posted on Right Wing Watch Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli appears to be paying the price for his anti-immigrant record. Cuccinelli backed Arizona’s draconian SB 1070 as the state attorney general and as a state senator he proposed several…
November 5, 2013 8:57 pm | By Paul Gordon

Scalia’s Nightmare: Evil Foreigners Impose Marriage Equality on U.S.

The Supreme Court held oral arguments this morning in a case about chemical weapons and the authority of Congress to pass laws effectuating treaty terms. This is a serious case about whether the Court will overrule a nearly 100 year-old…
November 5, 2013 6:51 pm | By Jen Herrick

Scenes from the floor on the first day of ENDA debate

Yesterday marked the first day of Senate debate on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and ENDA survived its first major hurdle – a strongly bipartisan 61-30 cloture vote to end a Republican filibuster on proceeding to consideration of the bill. Here…