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March 19, 2009 5:35 pm | By Marge Baker
Truth Telling in the Senate Judiciary Committee
President Obama’s choice to head the Office of Legal Counsel moved out of the Judiciary Committee today on a not-quite party line vote of 11-7. All the Democrats on the Committee supported her nomination, and all the Republicans opposed it,…
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March 18, 2009 9:21 pm | By Stacey Gates
Stop Voter ID in Texas
The New York Times editorial board probably didn’t write their piece today directly in response to a vote in the Texas State Senate yesterday, but they might as well have. From the NY Times editorial: In last year’s presidential election,…
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March 18, 2009 4:16 pm | By Marge Baker
Hamilton, Due Process, and the Right
Ed Whelan in yesterday's post about Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals nominee David Hamilton bemoans Hamilton's "inventive invocation of substantive due process to suppress evidence of a criminal defendant's possession of cocaine." Sound ominous? Perhaps - if it were true.…
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March 18, 2009 1:46 pm | By Willard
Lift the Ban
Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) is a prime issue for LGBT lobbyists and activists nationwide--including here at People For. Freedom from discrimination is a basic right that all Americans should enjoy. Repealing DADT is necessary for our nation to…
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March 17, 2009 10:05 pm | By Paul Gordon
Obama’s First Judicial Nomination: A Good Start
News reports state that David Hamilton, a federal district court judge in Indiana, will be President Obama’s first judicial nominee. He will apparently be nominated to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. I am…
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March 13, 2009 9:25 pm | By Willard
Do elephants really never forget?
From today’s Politico: McConnell said that Coleman’s team seems to have been laying the groundwork for a federal appeals challenge by citing the 2000 Supreme Court case in Bush v. Gore, which ended the Florida recount. McConnell argued that the…
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March 13, 2009 3:51 pm | By Willard
Obama Rebukes Radical Right on Stem Cells
The week started on a very positive note Monday morning with President Obama signing an executive order to overturn the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. It was a great step toward "restoring scientific integrity to health…
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March 12, 2009 9:45 pm | By Marge Baker
Playing Politics with America’s Future
As weeks go, I think this has been a fascinating look at the Republican obstruction machine – and how willing they are to play politics with our future. First, the Republicans fumed and fumed about the omnibus appropriations bill, as…
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March 11, 2009 5:00 am | By Stacey Gates
Supreme Court Chips Away at Voting Rights Protections
Twenty four hours after thousands celebrated “Bloody Sunday” earlier this week – a voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery where civil rights marchers including Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) were attacked and brutally beaten by Alabama state and local police,…
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March 9, 2009 1:57 pm | By Willard
NYT: Who’s Filibustering Now?
Great editorial in New York Times this morning recognizing the hypocrisy of Senate Republicans threatening to filibuster President Obama's judicial nominees well before any are named and urging Senator Leahy to let the blue slip process -- under which senators…
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March 7, 2009 4:52 pm | By Marge Baker
Republican Silence in the Face of More Rush Outrage
Rush Limbaugh is at it again, this time with his glaringly offensive – and tasteless – reference to Senator Kennedy’s health. I’m sure you’ve seen the comment: "Before it’s all over, it’ll be called the Ted Kennedy memorial health care bill." …
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March 6, 2009 10:16 pm | By Deborah Liu
Supreme Court Dismisses Al-Marri Case
Today, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by Ali al-Marri, who has been in federal custody in South Carolina since January 2002 when Bush designated him as an enemy combatant, claiming that he was an al-Qaeda sleeper agent. The order…
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March 6, 2009 8:25 pm | By Willard
The Right Re-Tools as ‘Resistance Movement’
Another week, another clear example of who is pulling the strings in the Republican Party. On Monday, Republicans in the Senate -- all 41 of them -- sent a letter to President Obama all but demanding that he re-nominate three…
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March 6, 2009 6:49 pm | By Marge Baker
Rebuild and Renew America Now
Yesterday, People For the American Way joined a growing coalition of organizations in support of President Obama's budget priorities. While People For doesn't "do" health care or housing or the environment, we do "do" equal opportunity and justice for all…
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March 5, 2009 10:55 pm | By Tanya
Voter Caging Bill Introduced in the Senate
Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with 10 of his colleagues, re-introduced his bill – the “Caging Prohibition Act” – that if enacted, would prevent political operatives from removing eligible voters from voting lists based on inaccurate and unreliable information.…
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March 5, 2009 5:39 pm | By Stacey Gates
Rush’s Greatest Hits
I couldn’t resist the urge to get in on the rush. (I know, I know.) The latest in the Limbaugh saga: he’s invited President Obama on his show for a “one-on-one debate of ideas and policies.” Although I suspect President…
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March 5, 2009 4:05 pm | By Marge Baker
Report from the Judiciary Committee
I’m sitting in the Senate Juduciary Committee executive meeting where Senator Leahy confirmed what we had been hearing — despite the fact that David Ogden’s nomination to be Deputy Attorney General was reported out on a vote of 14-5, with…
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March 4, 2009 11:08 pm | By Drew Courtney
Rove, Miers to Testify
In my office, CNN is blasting the news that Karl Rove and Harriet Miers have agreed to testify before Congress, under oath, about the Bush Administration's firing of US Attorneys. Both will give depositions to investigators from the committee, and claims of…
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March 3, 2009 11:21 pm | By Ben Betz
Republican Senators Make Threats on Judges, Try to Force “Bipartisanship” at Gunpoint
From Poltico: President Barack Obama should fill vacant spots on the federal bench with former President Bush's judicial nominees to help avoid another huge fight over the judiciary, all 41 Senate Republicans said Monday. ... "Regretfully, if we are not…
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March 3, 2009 10:40 pm | By Drew Courtney
On Fair Courts and Big Coal
Today in the Supreme Court, a case was argued that makes a pretty compelling case for a fair and independent judiciary. Robert Barnes at the Washington Post did a good overview yesterday. Caperton and his little coal company sued a…