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News and Analysis
January 31, 2017 2:34 pm | By 51279Why Trump’s Nominee Needs to Respect the Rule of Law, Especially If He Won’t
The following is a guest post by People For the American Way Board Chair Lara Bergthold. What we saw over the weekend was extraordinary. President Trump’s discriminatory anti-Muslim executive actions were stayed, in part, by judges who understood the Constitution…
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News and Analysis
January 30, 2017 7:15 pm | By 28189When It Comes to Jeff Sessions, D.C. Stands for “Dodge City”
President Trump arrived in Washington, D.C. last week with enough conflicts of interest to fill a cattle car. And if Senator Jeff Sessions—his political advisor and confidante—gets confirmed as Trump’s Attorney General, he’s going to have to deal with many…
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News and Analysis
January 30, 2017 2:20 am | By 28188Donald Trump’s Disqualified His Own SCOTUS Pick
In an interview late last week with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody, President Trump discussed the process the president has been using to determine who his Supreme Court nominee will be. It is hardly a surprise that this was…
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News and Analysis
January 27, 2017 2:55 pm | By 28186
Trump’s Final Four?
President Trump has stated that he will announce his Supreme Court nominee next Thursday, February 2. Reports are that the choice is down to four white male appellate court judges, all of whom are far-right candidates recommended by the right-wing Federalist…
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News and Analysis
January 25, 2017 8:50 pm | By 28179Why We Can’t Trust Jeff Sessions To Be The “People’s Lawyer”
A number of events this week, including actions by President Trump and some highly concerning statements from attorney general nominee Senator Jeff Sessions, make it all the more clear that we can’t trust Sessions to be the “people’s lawyer” tasked with…
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News and Analysis
January 24, 2017 9:49 pm | By 44533Citizens United’s Effect on 2016
This Saturday marked the 7th anniversary of the disastrous Citizens United decision, a Supreme Court ruling that lifted limits on the ability of corporations and other outside interests to spend money in elections. A new report from the Center for…
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News and AnalysisJanuary 23, 2017 11:34 pm | By 28188
Jeff Sessions Won’t Even Say Racism Exists
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, President Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, has submitted responses to written questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and some of his answers are eye-popping. Sen. Richard Blumenthal asked Sessions a series of questions…
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News and Analysis
January 23, 2017 7:50 pm | By 43665Sessions “Civil Rights Champion” Ad Follows in the Footsteps of the Trump Team’s Egregious Lies
In spite of a mountain of evidence to the contrary, a new TV ad now airing in Washington, D.C., aims to paint attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions as a “civil rights champion.” The audacity of portraying a man whose record…
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News and Analysis
January 23, 2017 7:14 pm | By 51279The Upcoming Supreme Court Fight: What’s At Stake
When Donald Trump nominates a jurist to sit on the Supreme Court, it won’t be business as usual. When President Obama chose a nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, he went out of his way to select a moderate…
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News and Analysis
January 17, 2017 11:40 pm | By 28188AG Hearing: Grassley’s Contempt for His Colleagues & for America
There’s an episode of Star Trek where Edith Keeler tells Captain Kirk, “A lie is a poor way to say hello.” Whether Chuck Grassley opened Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing with a lie or just an inexplicable mistake, he chose a…
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News and Analysis
January 11, 2017 9:20 pm | By 41753Blistering Coretta Scott King Letter Opposing Jeff Sessions’ Judicial Nomination Kept Secret For 30 Years
When Jeff Sessions was nominated to a federal judgeship in 1986, the late civil rights activist Coretta Scott King was among those who opposed his confirmation. King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., sent senators a nine-page statement opposing…
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News and Analysis
January 5, 2017 8:44 pm | By 28188Will Sessions Follow the Long Tradition of Recusal?
Since Jeff Sessions is a U.S. Senator, he is part of the body that will vote on his confirmation for Attorney General. That raises the ethical question of whether Sessions should recuse himself from a vote in which he has…
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News and AnalysisNovember 23, 2016 4:38 pm | By 44533
Poll Shows Both Trump and Clinton Voters Want Money in Politics Reform
A new poll from the Center for American Progress highlights the groundswell of support this election for serious money in politics reform. Given the extreme divisiveness of this election, the results of the poll may come as a surprise to…
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News and Analysis
November 8, 2016 7:44 pm | By 45583“I Think of Voting as a Chess Move, Not a Valentine.”
A version of this post first appeared on the Young People For blog. In a piece published last week in The Nation, the writer and activist Rebecca Solnit spoke powerfully about the importance of voting as a strategic choice rather…
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News and AnalysisOctober 31, 2016 8:03 pm | By 44533
Zephyr Teachout Explains the Problem of Big Money in Politics
One would be hard pressed to find a stronger champion of campaign finance reform than Zephyr Teachout. Running for New York’s 19th Congressional District, Teachout has a background teaching law at Fordham University and has written a book called “Corruption…
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News and Analysis
October 31, 2016 7:24 pm | By 28188The GOP’s Planned Sabotage of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has nine seats. That number was established by Congress way back in 1869. Before then, Congress had set the number to be as low as six and as high as ten. But now a nine-judgeship Supreme Court…
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News and Analysis
October 31, 2016 5:09 pm | By 41734Senator Ayotte’s Real Record on Equal Pay for Women
When New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan and U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte went head to head last week in a debate hosted by NH1 News, they touched on one of the most talked-about issues this election season, women's rights – specifically…
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News and Analysis
August 2, 2016 9:14 pm | By 41734Voting Rights – We Can Win
This Saturday marks the 51st anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Though we have a long way to go to restore this landmark law and ensure that every voter can cast a ballot that counts, it's important…
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News and Analysis
June 9, 2016 9:07 pm | By 28188Criticism Mounts for Senate GOP Obstruction of Judges
Perhaps the most vital role the United States Constitution assigns to the Senate is the vetting of federal judicial nominees. An efficient and independent judiciary is vital to those seeking to vindicate their legal rights. It is also vital to…
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News and AnalysisJune 6, 2016 6:21 pm | By 28188
Report by Elizabeth Warren Slams GOP Obstruction of Nominees
Since Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley is making sure that the committee he runs completely ignores Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination, one might think that he’s using the extra time to at least process the president’s many circuit and district…