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January 23, 2013 10:01 pm | By Miranda Blue
PFAW Foundation Submits Amicus Brief in Critical Voting Rights Case
Yesterday, People For the American Way Foundation , on behalf of its Young People For program, joined with Demos and several other civil rights groups to submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging it to reject a new…
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January 23, 2013 8:29 pm | By Paul Gordon
Judiciary Committee Launches New Session with Judicial Nominations
The Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing of the 113th Congress this morning, examining a full slate of judicial nominees. Because of the unprecedented obstruction of President Obama's judicial nominees over the past four years, he is the first…
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January 22, 2013 7:02 pm | By Leslie Watson Wilson
40 Years After Roe, My Personal Fight for Justice
"I am my mother's child. The one she told one day many years ago, as I laid on a hospital table that, 'God did not intend for your life to be like mine!' The forms had been signed, we were…
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January 18, 2013 7:54 pm | By James
PFAW Praises President Obama’s Common Sense Plan to Reduce Gun Violence
Following the Sandy Hook tragedy in December, President Obama declared this week that we, as a country, cannot tolerate another such incident. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another…
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January 17, 2013 8:27 pm | By Miranda Blue
Sotomayor Debunks Right-Wing Line on Courts
In an interview with “60 Minutes” this weekend, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor gave one of the best debunkings I’ve seen of the Right's line that a judge should be no more than an umpire, exercising no independent judgment and…
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January 17, 2013 5:06 pm | By Paul Gordon
Growing Circuit Court Vacancies While Republicans Have Stalled
When the Senate returns to Washington next week, it will have been more than seven months since Republicans last allowed a confirmation vote for any circuit court nominee. Left in the lurch were four highly qualified, long-pending circuit court nominees:…
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January 17, 2013 4:00 pm | By Leslie Watson Wilson
Martin Luther King, Citizens United and Driving Voters to the Polls
On a weekend that features both the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it is a timely moment to "take the temperature" of our democracy. Dr. King once…
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January 16, 2013 10:48 pm | By Paul Gordon
Sen. Leahy Talks About Judges at Georgetown Law
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy spoke at Georgetown University Law Center this morning, where he had been invited to discuss the committee's priorities for the 113th Congress. His prepared remarks noted the importance of ending the obstruction of qualified…
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January 16, 2013 9:22 pm | By Paul Gordon
GOP Electoral College Power Play Tests Our Democracy
Pennsylvania Republicans have introduced a bill to ensure that Republican presidential candidates win the lion's share of the state's electoral votes in the future, regardless of how the people actually vote. In fact, Reince Priebus, the chair of the Republican…
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January 14, 2013 6:51 pm | By Miranda Blue
PFAW Delivers 178,000 Petitions Calling for Michele Bachmann’s Removal from Intelligence Committee
Today, after an overwhelming response from our members and supporters, members of PFAW’s staff delivered a whopping 178,000 petitions to House Speaker John Boehner calling on him to remove Rep. Michele Bachmann from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.…
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January 10, 2013 3:56 pm | By Miranda Blue
Michele Bachmann Back on the Intelligence Committee, Still Spouting Conspiracy Theories
Last year, after Michele Bachmann launched a smear campaign against Hillary Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin and alleged that there had been “deep penetration” by the Muslim Brotherhood in high levels of government, People For the American Way launched a campaign…
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January 7, 2013 8:12 pm | By Calvin Sloan
Join “Money Out, Voters In” Today
The following video featuring Congressman Keith Ellison and People For the American Way's Marge Baker was recorded on December 15th, 2012 and live-streamed to host parties across the country. On and around the weekend of January 19, 2013…
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January 3, 2013 10:52 pm | By Paul Gordon
Swift Renominations Show Obama’s Commitment to Judicial Nominations
Signs since Election Day have suggested that President Obama will be making judicial nominations a higher priority during his second term. The biggest signal so far came today: Less than three hours into the 113th Congress, the White House announced…
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January 3, 2013 6:48 pm | By Miranda Blue
Thanks to House GOP, New Year Starts Without Violence Against Women Act
Back in April, the Senate passed a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which since 1994 has provided funding and training for state and local law enforcement to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault. The law has worked incredibly…
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January 3, 2013 5:19 pm | By Paul Gordon
Senators Speak Out for Judicial Confirmations
On the Senate floor yesterday, several Democratic senators discussing abuse of the Senate's rules spoke about how Republican obstruction of judicial nominations is damaging the nation's system of justice. Maryland's Ben Cardin noted how GOP obstruction is limiting the pool…
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January 2, 2013 10:19 pm | By Layne Amerikaner
Concerns that Citizens United May Impact Your Access to Birth Control
What does Citizens United have to do with women’s health care? According to a decision last week from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, perhaps more than you may think. Just a week after the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals…
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December 28, 2012 4:28 pm | By Miranda Blue
How the NRA is Working with Senate Republicans to Block Judicial Nominees
The New York Times’ Linda Greenhouse has a great blog post up on the National Rifle Association’s little-known role in influencing Senate votes on federal judicial nominees. Greenhouse focuses on the NRA’s effort to scare Republican Senators away from voting…
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December 28, 2012 4:21 pm | By Calvin Sloan
“Money Out, Voters In” Initiative Launches
Both Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the 3rd anniversary of Citizens United v. FEC will take place this year on the weekend of January 19, 2013, and activists are preparing to draw attention to the appropriate juxtaposition of two…
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December 27, 2012 3:17 pm | By Ben Betz
Thank You from PFAW Founder Norman Lear
Please take a moment to watch this end-of-the-year thank you message for you and all of PFAW's wonderful supporters around the world from PFAW founder Norman Lear:
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December 21, 2012 8:53 pm | By Paul Gordon
Circuit Court Rejects Attack on Contraception Coverage
Yesterday, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition to prevent enforcement of the ACA's contraception coverage provision for owners of the Hobby Lobby chain, who disapprove of certain types of birth control. They claim that the law infringes…