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For more information, contact Richard Wexler, Media Relations Manager, at richard.wexler@afj.org or (202) 464-7371.
AFJ REPORT: OBAMA PICKS UP THE PACE FOR JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS, BUT FEDERAL COURTS REMAIN IN CRISIS
03/05/13
President Obama has “significantly increased” the pace for sending the Senate nominees for federal judgeships, but the nation’s federal courts remain in crisis, according to a new report from Alliance for Justice. Due largely to Republican stalling, both before nominations are submitted to the Senate and after, the number of vacancies on federal courts is nearly double the rate when President Obama first took office.
Read More »NOW WE FIND OUT IF RULES REFORM IS FOR REAL
03/04/13
This week, we find out if the agreement reached at the start of the current session to reform Senate rules has any real meaning. Without question, Caitlin Halligan is extraordinarily well qualified for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Her nomination has strong bipartisan support.The fact that a minority of senators could stop a highly-qualified nominee like Caitlin Halligan in 2011 is a classic example of the misuse of the filibuster for partisan gain that has characterized the current Senate minority. President Obama has renominated Halligan, but Republicans are threatening a filibuster once again.
Read More »AFJ: NO EXCUSE TO FILIBUSTER CAITLIN HALLIGAN FOR D.C. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
03/01/13
An attempt to filibuster the nomination of a highly-qualified nominee for a powerful appellate court is a test of whether Senate rules reform is real or just an empty promise, the Alliance for Justice said Friday. “The fact that a minority of Senators could stop a highly-qualified nominee like Caitlin Halligan is a classic example of the misuse of the filibuster that has characterized the current Senate minority,” said AFJ President Nan Aron.
Read More »AFJ PROVIDES COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF TODAY’S ORAL ARGUMENT ON THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT
02/28/13
: Four legal scholars are posting to the Alliance For Justice Justice Watch blog to provide comprehensive expert analysis of today’s oral argument before the Supreme Court in Shelby County, Ala., v. Holder. The case involves a challenge to a key portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, known as “Section 5.”
Read More »STATEMENT OF AFJ PRESIDENT NAN ARON, AT THE RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT
02/27/13
This is an extraordinarily important day for our country. The fate of one of the most vital tools ever created for political and social justice in America is being argued inside this Court. At stake are the fundamental rights of millions of people of color, but also the integrity of our democracy and our willingness as a society to fulfill the promise of equality for every American. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 to correct the blatant discrimination that prevented millions of Americans from exercising the most fundamental right in a democracy – the right to vote and choose the people who make our laws.
Read More »HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERS AROUND THE WORLD URGE U.S. SUPREME COURT TO UPHOLD VOTING RIGHTS ACT
02/25/13
In an unprecedented show of international interest in a Supreme Court case, 22 of the world’s most prominent human rights leaders want the justices to know: The whole world is watching. This week the United States Supreme Court hears a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark American civil rights law.
Read More »AFJ APPLAUDS COMMITTEE APPROVAL OF 13 NOMINEES, INCLUDING D.C. CIRCUIT NOMINEE CAITLIN HALLIGAN, AND URGES SWIFT FLOOR VOTES
02/14/13
Alliance for Justice applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee’s decision to advance 13 unquestionably qualified nominees to the Senate floor, including Caitlin Halligan’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit. “Ms. Halligan is the personification of the phrase ‘tough, but fair,’” said AFJ President Nan Aron. “She’s a prosecutor who works to enforce the law, but at the same time, to ensure that government power is exercised fairly, and with an understanding of the impact that power has on the lives of individuals, families, and communities.”
Read More »AFJ CALLS FOR SWIFT FILLING OF VACANCIES ON NATION’S “SECOND MOST IMPORTANT COURT.”
02/12/13
The creation of yet another vacancy – the fourth – on what is widely-known as the nation’s second most important court is a stark reminder of the urgent need to fill vacancies on that court, the Alliance for Justice said Tuesday. With Judge David Sentelle taking senior status today, the D.C. Circuit now has more vacancies than any other circuit court of appeals. One of these seats has been vacant for more than seven years, another for more than four years. But the Senate has yet to confirm President Obama’s two nominees.
Read More »NEW AFJ RESOURCE TRACKS JUDICIAL VACANCIES WITHOUT NOMINATIONS
02/05/13
Much attention has been paid to what happens after someone is nominated to fill a vacancy - in particular the obstruction of nominees by Senate Republicans. But before a nomination ever reaches the Senate it goes through a complex, potentially lengthy process involving the White House and, with few exceptions, a state's two United States Senators. At every step, a nomination can be delayed. In particular, this resource highlights the little-examined role that senators play in the pre-nomination process.
Read More »STATEMENT OF AFJ PRESIDENT NAN ARON ON SENATE RULES REFORM AGREEMENT
01/24/13
While we are particularly happy to see long-overdue changes to the rules governing filibusters of district court nominees, we remain disappointed that circuit court nominations remain subject to the kind of destructive obstruction that has characterized President Obama’s first term. Limiting post-cloture debate to two hours serves as an implicit acknowledgement of the unprecedented degree to which Republicans have inappropriately used procedural weapons to delay and derail these important nominations. This agreement holds out hope that some degree of comity may now return to the Senate for district court nominees, but at the same time we urge Senate leaders to use every tool at their disposal to prevent the widespread obstruction of circuit court nominees that has characterized the past four years.
Read More »AFJ: ROE DECISION IS REMINDER OF IMPORTANCE OF SUPREME COURT TO EVERY AMERICAN
01/16/13
Tuesday’s anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade drives home the importance of the Supreme Court in our daily lives. A change of one vote on the Court in the wrong direction could set back set back advances made by women. A change of one vote the right way can solidify the gains of the past four decades.
Read More »NAN ARON: SUPREME COURT CAN BEND THE ARC OF HISTORY TOWARD JUSTICE BY STRIKING DOWN DOMA
12/07/12
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear a group of cases in which the stakes could not be higher. If the Court strikes down Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), it will make millions of legally-married same-sex couples truly equal in the eyes of the federal government. It will do the same for same-sex couples who want to marry in the future. A ruling against Section 3 would send an important message: The nation’s highest court refuses to countenance discrimination. But it also would have immediate, concrete benefits.
Read More »AFJ: McCONNELL “SELF-FILIBUSTER” ILLUSTRATES HOW GOP TURNS IT INTO “WEAPON OF MASS OBSTRUCTION”
12/07/12
The spectacle of the Minority Leader of the United States Senate filibustering his own bill perfectly illustrates the extent to which the filibuster has been abused for purely partisan purposes, according to the Alliance for Justice.
Read More »NEW REPORT FROM AFJ BLASTS IMPACT OF REPUBLICANS’ “CEASELESS OBSTRUCTION OF JUDICIAL NOMINEES”
11/19/12
Ceaseless obstruction of judicial nominees” has left the federal bench with more vacancies than when President Obama first took office, according to a new study from the Alliance for Justice. “The Republican record gives new meaning to the term ‘obstruction of justice’” said AFJ president Nan Aron. “When vacancies go unfilled, Americans wait months, sometimes years to get a chance to stand up for their rights in court. Some lose that chance entirely.” AFJ’s report, Unfinished Business provides the best publicly-available information on judicial nominations. It includes comprehensive statistics on President Obama’s judicial nominees since the beginning of his administration, the Senate’s confirmation process, and comparative data comparing the first-term records of the Obama, Bush, and Clinton administrations.
Read More »OOPS, THEY'RE DOING IT AGAIN: ANOTHER SUPREME COURT JUSTICE FLOUTS ETHICAL STANDARDS
11/16/12
For the second year in a row, a justice of the Supreme Court has flouted judicial ethics by headlining a fundraising gala for a lawyers group, the Alliance for Justice and Common Cause said Friday. Justice Samuel Alito was a featured speaker at the “30th Anniversary Gala Dinner” of the Federalist Society on Thursday night. Alito’s appearance was the drawing card for the $175-dollar-a-plate event, the society’s website indicates.
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