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July 12, 2013 8:36 pm | By Miranda Blue
Unprecedented GOP Obstruction Leading to Senate Showdown
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today moved to end Republican filibusters of seven of President Obama’s nominees to fill executive branch positions, including nominees for some of the agencies most despised by the GOP: Richard Cordray to head the Consumer…
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July 10, 2013 7:31 pm | By Miranda Blue
Deconstructing Ted Cruz’s DC Circuit Grandstanding
The Senate Judiciary Committee today held a hearing for the first of President Obama’s three recent nominees to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, attorney Patricia Ann Millett. Republican committee members, having no actual objections to Millett’s qualifications, used the…
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July 10, 2013 6:04 pm | By Jen Herrick
ENDA passes HELP Committee, ready for Senate floor
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee this morning on a bipartisan 15-7 vote, with Republicans Orrin Hatch (UT), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and lead sponsor Mark Kirk (IL) voting in favor of the…
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July 2, 2013 2:15 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
New Poll Shows Support for Marriage Equality, Affirmative Action, and Voting Rights – But Not the Supreme Court
In the wake of last week’s Supreme Court rulings on critical civil rights issues, a new poll finds increasing support for marriage equality and falling support for the high court itself. A national Princeton Survey Research Associates poll found that…
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July 1, 2013 9:18 pm | By Tory
Oregon Becomes 16th State to Join the Fight Against Citizens United
Following the approval of House Joint Memorial 6 by a 17-13 vote in the Oregon Senate today, Oregon became the 16th state to call for an amendment to the Constitution overturning the 2010 Citizens United decision and related cases. The…
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June 28, 2013 7:06 pm | By admin
Wendy Davis and the People’s Filibuster in Texas
Guest post from Robin Lane, alumni board member of affiliate People For the American Way Foundation’s Young People For program. Tuesday afternoon in Austin, I arrived at the Capitol and was swallowed in a sea of orange, ready to support…
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June 27, 2013 8:07 pm | By Jen HerrickDumping DOMA: The Next Step
As Miranda pointed out yesterday: [T]he effort to overturn DOMA is not over. While Section 3 was the law’s most damaging provision, DOMA’s Section 2, which says that states don’t have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, still…
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June 27, 2013 7:24 pm | By Tory
After Heroic All-Day Filibuster Foils Anti-Choice Bill, TX Gov. Rick Perry Calls ANOTHER Special Session to Continue Attack on Women
It’s been a chaotic week for the Texas legislature, but the drama isn’t over. Following state Senator Wendy Davis’ epic filibuster of a bill that would limit Texas women’s access to abortion, Governor Rick Perry has called yet another special…
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June 26, 2013 10:25 pm | By
In 2016, Remember This Week at the Supreme Court
It's been a week of mixed emotions for those of us who care about civil rights. There was the elation today when the Supreme Court overturned the so-called Defense of Marriage Act -- the discriminatory law that has hurt so…
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June 26, 2013 9:25 pm | By Paul Gordon
A Mixed-but-Mostly-Bad Supreme Court Term
Although today's decisions consigning DOMA and Proposition 8 to the dustbin of history are a triumph for our nation's constitutional values, the rest of the term ending today wasn't so great. The principle of equality under the law that carried…
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June 26, 2013 3:57 pm | By Miranda Blue
Supreme Court Dumps PART of DOMA
The Supreme Court today ruled that the core section of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. DOMA’s Section 3, which the Court vacated, prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex…
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June 26, 2013 3:37 pm | By Paul Gordon
DOMA Decision Slices Right Wing Talking Point on Referendums
Today's 5-4 Supreme Court decision striking down DOMA devastates one of the Far Right's most ridiculous talking points: that state legislatures behave anti-democratically when they pass marriage equality legislation without a statewide referendum. Here are a couple of choice quotes…
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June 26, 2013 1:26 pm | By Tory
The Truth Behind the IRS ‘Scandal’
Now that the smoke has cleared, it appears that the IRS scandal that has consumed right-wing media for weeks is not much of a scandal at all. The original story that the IRS was unfairly targeting conservative groups has dramatically…
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June 26, 2013 1:04 pm | By Paul GordonThe Smoking Gun in the Voting Rights Case
Lest anyone be fooled into thinking that yesterday's 5-4 ruling crippling the Voting Rights Act was anything but five justices substituting their ideologies for the law, let us recall that Justice Scalia showed his cards during oral arguments in February.…
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June 25, 2013 7:28 pm | By Jen Herrick
Representative John Lewis: “There’s other bridges to walk across”
Just 11 days ago, on June 14, 2013, Representative John Lewis was honored as a 2013 Progressive Champion by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. Representative Lewis offered an impassioned call to action: We've come too far. We've…
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June 25, 2013 5:15 pm | By Paul Gordon
In Voting Rights Decision, Roberts Rewrites the 15th Amendment
The Roberts Court, as part of the right wing’s ongoing efforts to keep “the wrong” people from voting, put a monkey wrench into the mechanism of the greatest civil rights legislation in American history. It is now up to Congress…
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June 25, 2013 12:35 am | By Sarah Lobe
Bad News for Workers in the Supreme Court’s Vance Case
Today the Supreme Court's decision in Vance v. Ball State University reset the rule for when an employer may be held vicariously liable for an employee's harassment. Finding an employer liable for unlawful harassment by supervisors is now more difficult.…
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June 24, 2013 9:29 pm | By Paul Gordon
Affirmative Action Remains
The Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision this morning in the Fisher v. University of Texas affirmative action case. The Court ruled 7-1, with Justice Kennedy writing for the majority and Justice Kagan recused. The majority adhered to the principle…
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June 24, 2013 5:52 pm | By Paul Gordon
A Good Day at the Court for Drug Manufacturers (But Not the Rest of Us)
In a sharply divided 5-4 decision, the Corporate Court took another step today to immunize generic drug makers from lawsuits under state law holding them accountable for selling prescription drugs that can be particularly dangerous even when taken as directed.…
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June 20, 2013 10:00 pm | By Ben C.
HUD Report Documents Housing Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples
A report released this week by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the first-ever national study documenting discrimination against same-sex couples in the private rental market. Titled "An Estimate Of Housing Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples", the…