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March 16, 2012 10:10 pm | By Jen Herrick
ID and assistance restrictions on tap for voters in Mississippi
Last November, Mississippi voters approved by referendum a voter ID constitutional amendment. Because it requires enacting legislation, the House has passed HB 921. It must get through the Senate and Governor, and be approved by the US Department of Justice,…
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March 16, 2012 5:33 pm | By Paul Gordon
Federal District Courts’ Workload Keeps Going Up
This week, we saw just how far Senate Republicans are willing to go to stop the confirmation of federal judges and keep America's courts from functioning properly. Unfortunately, newly released information shows that the number of cases before our nation's…
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March 16, 2012 4:38 pm | By Miranda Blue
How Washington Gridlock Hurts Americans Seeking Justice
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights organized a call yesterday with Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and attorneys from Ohio, South Carolina and Arizona to discuss how judicial nominations gridlock in Washington hurts Americans seeking justice around the…
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March 15, 2012 10:09 pm | By Jen Herrick
UPDATE: PA Passes ID Under Objections of 45 Groups and 13,000 Pennsylvanians
UPDATE: Last week, HB 934 passed the Pennsylvania Senate. It got through concurrence yesterday by a House vote of 104-88. Governor Corbett signed it as soon as it got to his desk. Now photo ID is law in Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, in a…
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March 15, 2012 9:15 pm | By Paul Gordon
GOP Boycotts Judiciary Committee
This morning, a mere day after an agreement was negotiated to vote on 14 long-delayed judicial nominations over the next several weeks, Americans were reminded that there are still many ways that Republicans can continue to obstruct nominations. The Senate…
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March 15, 2012 5:30 pm | By Jen Herrick
Think you can help people register to vote? Tell that to Florida and South Carolina.
Last year Florida passed HB 1355, or what’s commonly referred to by voting rights advocates as the “Voter Suppression Act” for its disenfranchising impacts, including its reduction of early voting hours and its harsh new restrictions on community groups seeking…
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March 14, 2012 3:45 pm | By Paul Gordon
Diversifying the Federal Bench
While Republicans have been setting bad precedents for obstruction of judicial nominations, it’s worth a moment to look at the good precedents set by President Obama and his nominees. The White House has an infographic with a great deal of…
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March 13, 2012 9:43 pm | By Marge Baker
Whatever It Is, They’re Against It: Health Care, the Courts and the Anti-Obama Agenda
This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post. Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in one of the most closely-watched cases in its history: the challenge to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. But in the weeks leading…
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March 13, 2012 8:40 pm | By Jen Herrick
State legislation shines national spotlight on voter ID
March 7, 2012 marked the 47th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” when voting rights marchers were beaten in their attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. NAACP President Ben Jealous joined activists from then and now in…
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March 13, 2012 5:15 pm | By Paul Gordon
Judicial Obstruction – Not Just a “Little Disagreement” Over Scheduling
Sen. Lamar Alexander went to the Senate floor this morning and, unfortunately, gravely mischaracterized his party's three-year massive resistance to processing judicial nominations, which has culminated in Sen. Reid's being forced to file cloture petitions to end the unprecedented filibusters…
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March 13, 2012 4:09 pm | By Paul Gordon
Exponential Escalation of Judicial Obstruction
Filing 17 cloture petitions to end the filibusters against so many district court nominations is a necessary response to an unprecedented level of obstruction. It's worth looking at how Senate Republicans have driven America to this extraordinary point. Until the…
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March 13, 2012 4:09 pm | By Jen Herrick
UPDATE: Voter ID challenges moving forward in Wisconsin
UPDATE: Yesterday, Judge Niess issued a new ruling in the League of Women Voters case, a permanent injunction against Act 23 (aka AB 7). WBAY reporting. This follows his ruling last week on standing in the case, and Judge Flanagan’s…
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March 12, 2012 10:14 pm | By Justin
PFAW’s Jamie Raskin Takes on Right-Wing Rhetoric on the Courts
As the 2012 presidential campaign gears up, PFAW Senior Fellow Jamie Raskin has collected an extensive glossary of the Right Wing’s favorite rhetoric about the Supreme Court and the Constitution. Sen. Raskin's Daily Kos piece explains the coded phrases and…
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March 12, 2012 9:57 pm | By Jen Herrick
DOJ and Houston senator take a stand for voting rights, against ID law
Last May, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed SB 14 into law. An ALEC award-winner himself, Governor Perry had the support of several ALEC members and others who pushed the legislation. Together they made Texas a photo ID state. Not so…
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March 12, 2012 6:45 pm | By Paul Gordon
GOP Seeks to Distract from their Judicial Obstruction
Senate Democrats are taking action to highlight and end Republicans' three-year efforts to keep our nation's courtrooms empty. Specifically, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has just announced that he will file cloture on all of the 17 district court nominations…
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March 9, 2012 11:11 pm | By Paul Gordon
Three Montana Legislators Support Disgraced Federal Judge
Three members of the Montana House Judiciary Committee have vocally come out in support of disgraced federal Judge Richard Cebull. Last week, Cebull seriously undermined the public's trust in his ability to preside over cases fairly as a neutral arbiter,…
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March 9, 2012 5:07 pm | By Justin
Elected Officials Officially Calling Out ALEC
Over the past few weeks, more progressive elected officials are not just voting against ALEC inspired legislation that would privatize public services and make a few people very rich, they are calling it out by name and raising awareness of…
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March 9, 2012 3:20 pm | By Jen Herrick
UPDATE: Virginia poised to tighten voter ID requirements
UPDATE: SB 1, which came down to a tie vote last week in the Virginia Senate, broken by Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, has now passed the House. Expected to be signed by Governor Bob McDonnell, the new law will tighten…
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March 9, 2012 1:40 pm | By Jen Herrick
PA Passes ID Under Objections of 45 Groups and 13,000 Pennsylvanians
On Wednesday, in a 26-23 vote on HB 934, the Pennsylvania Senate passed photo ID. Having passed the House last June, it now goes to concurrence (final negotiations) and will soon reach Governor Corbett’s desk, where it’s expected to be…
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March 8, 2012 5:54 pm | By Miranda Blue
The War on Women in the Courts
The War on Women doesn't stop with reproductive rights. In a new post at Ms. Blog, People For's Marge Baker explains how GOP obstruction of judicial nominees is keeping women -- as well as people of color and gays and…