A vital objective of Alliance for Justice’s work to ensure a fair and independent judiciary and to safeguard access to our courts is the protection of individual rights and liberties.

We monitor the views of nominees on these issues, and we spotlight judicial decisions that implicate rights and liberties in order to educate the public on how dramatically judicial selection can affect their rights. In addition, we closely watch legislation that might affect the ability of individuals to go into court to enforce their rights.

The Eighth Circuit, a court which handles federal appeals arising in the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota, ruled that the strip search of a sixteen year old girl did not violate her rights. The same court ruled that a Hispanic employee’s claim of discrimination was not strong enough to go to a jury – despite the fact that he was fired in a workplace where he was asked jokingly where his green card was, and where he was recently promoted and told he was doing a good job.

Many of the judges on the Eighth Circuit were appointed by George W. Bush, whose nominees to the courts were routinely rubber stamped with little inquiry into their views on important human and civil rights questions. Alliance for Justice hopes that, by making the public aware of these kinds of decisions, they will insist on a more searching inquiry into nominees’ views during the confirmation process.

Meanwhile, the rights of military detainees have been compromised by legislation stripping them of their right to a fair hearing to challenge their detention. This denial of access to the nation’s courts compromises one of the most fundamental human rights, the right to be free from unjust confinement. Alliance for Justice is at the forefront of the advocacy effort pressing for legislation to restore habeas corpus, and our representatives have met with staff in both houses of Congress to urge legislators to move immediately to renew the nation’s commitment to basic human rights.