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May 17, 2013 9:40 pm | By
DOJ’s Seizure of AP Phone Records Affronts Constitutional Principles
This week, the Associated Press reported that the Department of Justice had seized two months of phone records for its editors and reporters without any prior notification to the news organization, thereby denying it the opportunity to negotiate or challenge…
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May 17, 2013 8:47 pm | By Miranda Blue
New Nominees Highlight Growing Diversity on the Courts
One of President Obama’s most important long-term achievements has been his concerted effort to bring qualified judicial nominees from a wide variety of backgrounds to the federal bench. 42 percent of President Obama’s confirmed judicial nominees have been women, compared…
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May 17, 2013 5:39 pm | By Paul Gordon
GOP Obstruction of Judicial Nominees Continues
Behind the good news that the Senate is finally moving to confirm more district nominees, it should be noted that many of the nominees getting votes are ones that could easily have been approved last year. Most recently, Senate Republicans…
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May 16, 2013 9:39 pm | By Miranda Blue
Judicial Nominees Move Forward as GOP Obstruction Talking Points Fall Apart
The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved the nomination of Sri Srinivasan to sit on the powerful Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. There are currently four vacancies on the D.C. Circuit – and Senate Republicans have prevented President Obama from…
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May 15, 2013 5:23 pm | By Scott
PFAW Members Join Thousands to Make Minnesota the 12th State with Marriage Equality
Photo credit: City of Minneapolis Facebook Thousands of Minnesotans streamed into St. Paul Tuesday afternoon to witness history in the making. Governor Mark Dayton welcomed an estimated crowd of 7,000 equality supporters to watch him sign marriage equality legislation into…
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May 15, 2013 5:15 pm | By
The Real IRS Problem: Citizens United
Americans of all political stripes should be outraged at the recent revelation that the Tea Party was unfairly targeted by the IRS before last year's election. The IRS should never base its decisions on political preferences or ideological code words,…
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May 14, 2013 8:11 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Rallying for Marriage Equality in Minnesota
Yesterday, as the Minnesota Senate voted 37-30 to allow same-sex marriages in the state, PFAW and friends expressed their support for marriage equality through signs, chants, and songs:
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May 10, 2013 8:50 pm | By Miranda Blue
The D.C. Circuit and the ‘Transformation of the First Amendment’
Garrett Epps writes today in The Atlantic about how the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, still dominated by far-right George W. Bush nominees, has been instrumental in “the long, doleful transformation of the First Amendment from an individual right of…
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May 10, 2013 3:48 pm | By Miranda Blue
Cornyn Blames Obama For Gridlock Cornyn Created
The Huffington Post clips this exchange from yesterday’s meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting yesterday, which pretty much encapsulates the gridlock that Republicans have inflicted on the Senate during the Obama administration: HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery summarizes the…
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May 9, 2013 8:42 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Minnesota House Passes Marriage Equality Bill
This afternoon the Minnesota House passed a bill allowing same-sex couples in Minnesota to marry. It is expected to be taken up by the Senate on Monday, and Gov. Mark Dayton has pledged to sign the legislation if it reaches…
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May 9, 2013 6:57 pm | By
Hypocrisy, McCarthyism & “Christian Persecution”
It seems like with every election, congressional hearing or large gathering of its activists, the Right reaches new lows. Here are some updates on what we’re up against right now. Rewarding Hypocrisy -- Sanford and Cruz This week, former South…
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May 8, 2013 7:42 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
RNC to Supreme Court: Strike Individual Campaign Contribution Limits
Few Americans would argue that they want to see more big money flowing into our political system. Yet yesterday the Republican National Committee asked the Supreme Court to strike down limits on the total amount an individual donor can contribute…
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May 8, 2013 7:20 pm | By Miranda Blue
Graphic: Restoring Balance to the D.C. Circuit
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the most important court that most Americans have never heard of, is making waves this week with a ruling that the National Labor Relations Board’s requirement that corporations inform their employees of their right…
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May 8, 2013 4:46 pm | By
Will Mark Sanford Listen to Mark Sanford’s Lesson in Grace?
"I am one imperfect man saved by God's grace," Mark Sanford proclaimed yesterday as he declared victory in a special election for South Carolina's open House seat. "Until you experience human grace as a reflection of God's grace, I don't…
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May 7, 2013 9:17 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Delaware Set to Become Eleventh State With Marriage Equality
Following closely on the heels of Rhode Island, Delaware is poised to become the eleventh state to allow same-sex couples to marry. Because the Delaware House passed a marriage equality bill last month and Governor Jack Markell has pledged to…
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May 7, 2013 8:19 pm | By Paul Gordon
DC Circuit Strikes Another Blow Against Working People
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit issued a bizarre decision today striking down a National Labor Relations Board regulation requiring employers to post a certain notice informing employees of their legal rights. The judges (two Bush-41 nominees and one…
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May 7, 2013 4:11 pm | By Miranda Blue
Study: Roberts and Alito Most Pro-Corporate Justices in 65 Years
We write frequently about the extraordinarily pro-corporate leanings of the current Supreme Court, where the Justices bend the law and twist logic in order to rule in favor of large corporate interests and against the rights of individuals harmed by…
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May 6, 2013 7:54 pm | By Libby
A Wake-Up Call for Governor Corbett: GOP Lawmaker Opposes Electoral College Plan
We already knew from our canvassing these past few weeks that the Pennsylvania GOP’s electoral vote-rigging plan is unpopular with Pennsylvania voters. Now, thanks to a People For the American Way video, we know that this opposition isn’t just coming…
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May 6, 2013 5:06 pm | By Miranda Blue
Senate Republicans Treating President Obama’s Judicial Nominees Exceptionally Poorly, CRS Study Finds
A new study from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service [pdf] quantifies the extent to which Senate Republicans have been stalling President Obama’s judicial nominees. Through this persistent obstruction, Senate Republicans have kept the chamber mired in gridlock, thrown the federal…
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May 2, 2013 10:40 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Rhode Island Becomes Tenth State with Marriage Equality
Today the Rhode Island House passed and Governor Lincoln Chafee is expected to sign legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry, making it the tenth state in the country with full marriage equality. The state House passed a similar version of…