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August 6, 2013 9:42 pm | By Drew Courtney
Tell the GOP: Yes or No Votes for Obama’s DC Circuit Nominees!
Now that we’re well into President Obama’s fifth year in office, there are no prizes for guessing what the GOP’s response is to a diverse slate of nominees to the critical DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Obstruct. Obstruct. Obstruct. Even…
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August 5, 2013 8:02 pm | By Calvin Sloan
Revisiting McConnell’s Obstruction and the 2014 Kentucky Senate Race
The 2014 elections are quickly heating up in Kentucky. Two weeks ago, Tea Party candidate Matt Bevin announced his plans to challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Republican primary, setting off a round of vicious attack ads from…
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August 2, 2013 10:00 pm | By Ben C.
Senate hears testimony on government surveillance
The Senate held a hearing Wednesday to discuss government surveillance programs, with particular emphasis on Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and Section 702 of FISA, which have respectively served as NSA’s justifications for bulk phone records collection and…
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August 1, 2013 4:47 pm | By Paul Gordon
GOP Puts Politics Above Governance at First DC Circuit Committee Vote
This morning, the Judiciary Committee voted on party lines in support of Patricia Millett's nomination to the DC Circuit, the first of President Obama's three highly qualified nominees to reach this point in the confirmation process. Before they voted, several…
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July 31, 2013 10:30 pm | By Paul Gordon
Large and Diverse Group Urges Senators Not to Block DC Circuit Votes
The day before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on whether to forward the first of President Obama's three DC Circuit nominees to the full Senate, nearly 100 organizations have sent a letter to every U.S. senator urging…
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July 31, 2013 3:24 pm | By Drew Courtney
The GOP War on Women: Judicial Edition
Earlier this year, President Obama nominated three brilliant jurists to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, the court that many people call “the second most important court in the nation.” It probably comes as no surprise that Republicans have already…
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July 30, 2013 9:32 pm | By Paul Gordon
Democrats Introduce Judges Bill Based on Non-Anonymous Public Statements
Sens. Christopher Coons and Patrick Leahy, both on the Judiciary Committee, have introduced a bill to add more than 90 new judgeships to the federal courts. In a development that may have been shocking to Chuck Grassley (for reasons explained…
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July 29, 2013 9:32 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Survey Finds Choice Is Make-or-Break Issue for Virginia Women Voters
Reproductive choice is a central issue for women who otherwise might not vote in the Virginia gubernatorial election, a new NARAL survey finds. This is not good news for Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli, who once described himself as “the most…
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July 29, 2013 7:54 pm | By Tory
PFAWF: More Attention on Colorado Censorship Campaign
Last week, People For the American Way Foundation joined a campaign to fight book censorship in a Colorado school district. The censorship battle began when a group of parents launched a petition to keep Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye out…
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July 26, 2013 7:33 pm | By Paul Gordon
Grassley’s Own DC Circuit Numbers Fail Him
Chuck Grassley and other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been arguing that the three vacancies on the DC Circuit should not be filled because the court's workload doesn't warrant it. They say the current number of eight active…
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July 26, 2013 3:11 pm | By Paul Gordon
New Data Shows DC Circuit Caseload Continues to Rise
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has just updated its caseload data for the nation's federal courts, and the news isn't good for Senate Republicans intent on rigging the DC Circuit. The data shows that the caseload at the…
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July 25, 2013 7:48 pm | By Miranda Blue
Flashback: When Republicans Thought It Was Okay For Judicial Nominees to Have Opinions
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee spent yesterday’s confirmation hearing on D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Nina Pillard harping on two points: first, that they think the D.C. Circuit doesn’t need its three vacancies filled, and second, that they…
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July 25, 2013 7:19 pm | By Paul Gordon
Grassley Cites Anonymous Comments to Justify Rigging DC Circuit
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Republican Chuck Grassley has reached a new level of desperation to support his effort to strip the DC Circuit of its three vacant seats rather than let President Obama fill them. At a confirmation hearing yesterday…
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July 25, 2013 2:20 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
PFAW Foundation Joins Fight Against Book Censorship in Colorado School District
“If one book is banned from being taught in a classroom setting, then it opens the door for all books – and ideas – to be banned as well.” These are the closing words to a petition launched by high…
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July 24, 2013 9:15 pm | By Paul Gordon
Ted Cruz Distorts and Ignores Nina Pillard’s Actual Record
DC Circuit nominee Nina Pillard had her confirmation hearing this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz echoed a transparently false right-wing talking point suggesting that Pillard has written that courts should strike down abstinence-only…
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July 24, 2013 7:12 pm | By Paul Gordon
PFAW Supports House Amendment Against NSA Spying
The House will soon be considering an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill that would impose much-needed limits on the NSA's unconstitutional surveillance program that indiscriminately collects the phone records of millions of Americans. With bipartisan sponsors Justin Amash (R-Mich)…
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July 22, 2013 8:20 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Young People For Supports Florida Dream Defenders’ Courageous Sit-In
In what the Miami Herald is calling the “longest sit-in demonstration in recent memory,” a group of more than sixty young people called the Dream Defenders came to Florida Governor Rick Scott’s office last Tuesday and have not left. Arriving…
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July 22, 2013 8:05 pm | By Tali
Congress Begins Work on New Voting Rights Act Legislation
The House and Senate held hearings last week to discuss a replacement for the federal preclearance formula of the Voting Rights Act, which was recently scrapped by the Supreme Court. Without a coverage formula, the Justice Department will no longer…
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July 15, 2013 10:09 pm | By Tory
Confronting the GOP’s Lies in the Border Debate
In a presentation last week at the offices of New Democrat Network, a Washington, D.C. think tank, political analyst Simon Rosenberg challenged the Republican resistance to comprehensive immigration reform. According to Rosenberg, the GOP’s arguments against legalization of undocumented immigrants…
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July 15, 2013 5:22 pm | By Miranda Blue
Sen. Hatch Misleads ‘This Week’ About His Role in Judicial Filibusters
On ABC News’ “This Week” yesterday, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah claimed that he takes the “principled position” of voting against filibusters of judicial nominees: And matter of fact, I continue to vote against filibusters with regard to judicial…