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August 9, 2013 2:15 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Durbin Questions Potential ALEC Backers on Stand Your Ground Laws
As the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meets in a swanky Chicago hotel for its 40th annual summit this week, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) has raised some important questions for the corporations that may be funding the group. Roll Call…
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August 8, 2013 8:41 pm | By Drew Courtney
From the Archives: Ken Buck’s Extreme Record
As you may have heard, 2010 Tea Party candidate Ken Buck has decided to throw his hat into the ring for the 2014 Senate race in Colorado. Unfortunately for him, no one has forgotten the extreme record that led voters…
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August 8, 2013 6:38 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
PFAW Crashes ALEC’s Party at Biggest Anti-ALEC Protest to Date
All photos by Scott Foval. Bill Moyers once called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) the “most influential corporate-funded political force most of America has never heard of.” Today, PFAW is helping to change that – coming out in full…
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August 7, 2013 8:26 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
PFAW Foundation Remembers Civil Rights Hero Julius Chambers
We here at People For the American Way Foundation are deeply saddened by the passing of Julius Chambers, a trailblazing civil rights lawyer and former People For the American Way Foundation board member. In the 1960s, Chambers opened what became…
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August 7, 2013 5:26 pm | By Calvin Sloan“160 Summer” Citizens United Amendment Update
As the movement to amend the Constitution to overturn Citizens United and related cases continues gaining momentum on the local and state level – with 16 states, and nearly 500 cities and towns, including American mega-cities like New York, Los…
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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…