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June 3, 2010 4:52 pm | By Miranda Blue
Keeping the Courts Corporate
Corporate courts don’t happen by accident.Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club, has written an account of the efforts of the business lobby and Republican Senators to keep Rhode Island environmental lawyer John McConnell off the federal bench.McConnell’s offense? Representing…
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June 1, 2010 7:27 pm | By Miranda Blue
Supreme Court: Suspects Must Speak in Order to Remain Silent
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled today that suspects being interrogated can only invoke their right to be silent if they say so explicitly—they can’t just remain silent. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissenting opinion, called the ruling a "substantial…
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June 1, 2010 6:31 pm | By Miranda Blue
And the waiting room gets a little more crowded…
Today’s nominations obstruction update:With the Senate facing a full legislative calendar and a Supreme Court debate ahead, the outlook for the more than 100 names on the executive calendar appears grim for the rest of the year.As we have pointed…
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May 28, 2010 9:21 pm | By Miranda Blue
House Passes Defense Bill with Path to Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
The House has just passed a Defense authorization bill that includes a path to repealing the discriminatory and way too long-lived Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. The vote was 229 – 186. Earlier today, People For President Michael Keegan said…
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May 28, 2010 8:41 pm | By Marge Baker
Video: African American Ministers Leadership Council Signs Immigration Reform Covenant
People For has been documenting the dangerous and divisive Right Wing rhetoric surrounding immigration reform….rhetoric that has led to, among other things, Arizona’s new civil liberties-smashing anti-immigrant law. But, despite the overwhelmingly cynical national dialogue on immigration reform, there remain…
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May 28, 2010 8:24 pm | By Miranda Blue
Rand Paul, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and the “Right” to Discriminate
Matt Coles at the ACLU has written an interesting blog post outlining some major reasons why the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is so important. One of his points especially resonated after last week’s firestorm around Republican Senatorial Candidate…
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May 28, 2010 6:32 pm | By Jen Herrick
Reproductive rights for military women
Yesterday the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 18-10 to approve the Defense authorization bill. This legislation, which includes conditional repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, also takes an important step toward equality in reproductive rights for military women. Existing law…
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May 28, 2010 2:14 pm | By Miranda Blue
A Step in the Right Direction on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Last night, we got one step closer to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The House voted Thursday to let the Defense Department repeal the ban on gay and bisexual people from serving openly in the military, a major…
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May 26, 2010 9:07 pm | By Miranda Blue
Oil and the Courts: Will History Repeat Itself?
As BP begins a risky attempt to stem its still-leaking oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and oil starts to lap against the shores of the Gulf Coast, lawsuits against the oil giant have begun. The devastating oil spill…
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May 26, 2010 9:01 pm | By Jen Herrick
PFAW and AAMIA tell Congress: Repeal DADT
People For the American Way and African American Ministers in Action wrote to Congress today urging repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Votes are imminent in both the House and Senate. According to PFAW’s Michael B. Keegan and Marge Baker:…
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May 26, 2010 3:49 pm | By Miranda Blue
Police Chiefs Come Out Against Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law
Police chiefs from several major US cities said today that Arizona’s harsh new anti-immigrant law will make it harder for law enforcement officers to do their jobs: The new Arizona law will intimidate crime victims and witnesses who are illegal…
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May 26, 2010 3:44 pm | By Miranda Blue
78% of Americans Oppose Don’t Ask Don’t Tell; Congress Is on the Fence
Congress, take note: A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday indicates that 78 percent of the public supports allowing openly gay people to serve in the military, with one in five opposed. "Support is widespread, even among Republicans. Nearly six…
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May 25, 2010 2:20 pm | By Miranda Blue
The End of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?
At long last, it looks like the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy may finally be on a path to repeal: President Obama has endorsed a "don't ask, don't tell" compromise between lawmakers and the Defense Department, the White House…
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May 24, 2010 7:33 pm | By Miranda Blue
Supreme Court Changes Course to Rule for Workers Over Technicalities
Good news from the Supreme Court this morning: after taking a beating for its 2007 decision denying Lilly Ledbetter the right to sue her former employer for years of wage discrimination based on a deadline she could not have observed,…
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May 24, 2010 3:06 pm | By Miranda Blue
Corporations Spending Millions on California Ballot Initiatives
From California, an example of what an unregulated corporate bank account can buy at the ballot box. NPR reports that big corporations have been spending millions of dollars to finance ballot initiatives in California, on issues including suspending the state’s…
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May 21, 2010 9:45 pm | By Deborah Liu
Appeals Court Rules Against Bagram Detainees
Today, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against three detainees held by the U.S. on a military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, holding that the federal courts do not have jurisdiction to review their habeas petitions. People For the American…
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May 21, 2010 8:19 pm | By Miranda Blue
Bork by Any Other Name
In the two days since Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul restated his long-held opposition to the portions of 1964’s Civil Rights Act that prohibited racial discrimination by private businesses, members of his party have been keeping their distance and tripping…
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May 21, 2010 4:38 pm | By Miranda Blue
Advice for Obama from FDR
Jeff Shesol, author of the fascinating Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court, has some advice for President Obama in a new blog post for the American Constitution Society. Shesol argues that Obama can learn a thing or two…
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May 20, 2010 9:24 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Politics Behind the Public Safety Exception
In a new piece for The American Prospect, Adam Serwer investigates the political roots of Attorney General Eric Holder’s call for weakening Miranda rights in the name of national security.“[C]ivil libertarians and even experienced FBI interrogators argue,” Serwer writes, “that…
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May 20, 2010 7:58 pm | By Miranda Blue
Taking a Stand on Immigration Reform
The New York Times ran a powerful editorial today on the stark contrast between the courage of activists fighting for fair and comprehensive immigration reform and the somewhat less courageous behavior of those in power in Washington. They highlight the…