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Alliance for Justice Calls for an End to Time-Wasting Filibusters and the Endless Logjam on Judicial Nominations in the U.S. Senate
03/12/12
Today marks an important milestone in the seemingly endless process of confirming judges to the federal courts and alleviating the staffing crisis in our judicial system. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been forced to file time-consuming cloture petitions to end Republican filibusters on 17 nominees to the district courts, the vast majority of whom were approved unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee or with only token opposition.
Read More »AFJ Joins Members of Congress, Concerned Groups, Law Professors, and 100,000 Americans in Calling for Ethics Reform at the Supreme Court
03/07/12
Washington, D.C., March 6, 2012—Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron today joined three members of Congress, several concerned organizations, 212 law professors, and over 100,000 citizens in calling for the Supreme Court of the United States to voluntarily agree to formally adopt the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges and put an end to the ethical ambiguity that has damaged public confidence in the Court and its justices.
Read More »AFJ Releases Report on Human Rights Case to be Argued Before Supreme Court
02/27/12
As a service for those writing about human rights and corporate accountability cases, Alliance for Justice today released a report detailing the facts and far-reaching implications of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, one of the most important cases of the current Supreme Court term, and one that could have profound ramifications for those seeking to hold corporations accountable for wrongdoing.
Read More »AFJ Condemns Decision by Chief Justice Roberts to Refuse to Adopt Code of Conduct
02/22/12
Yesterday, Chief Justice John Roberts told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and the American people that the Supreme Court of the United States, apparently alone among all institutions of American government, doesn’t need formally binding ethics rules and has no intention of adopting any. In a terse statement the Chief Justice flatly rejected a recommendation by Chairman Leahy and Senators Durbin, Whitehouse, Franken, and Blumenthal that the Court voluntarily, explicitly, and formally adopt the same Code of Conduct that governs every other federal judge.
Read More »AFJ Praises Senators for Calling for Supreme Court to Adopt Ethics Code
02/15/12
Alliance for Justice is extremely gratified that five members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have written to Chief Justice John Roberts to ask the Supreme Court to formally adopt the same Code of Conduct that applies to all other federal judges. This request echoes a similar one made in January by 11 national organizations, including Alliance for Justice, and is part of a growing groundswell of demands for reform of the Court’s approach to ethics, particularly in the wake of unresolved concerns about the behavior of some justices that seems to violate core principles embodied in the Code, including bans on political activity and prohibitions on active participation in fundraising.
Read More »AFJ Condemns Political Games Further Delaying the Confirmation of Judge Adalberto Jose Jordan to the 11th Circuit
02/14/12
After months of interminable, senseless delays by Republican senators, the nomination of Judge Adalberto José Jordán to a seat on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is now being forced to run a final gauntlet of obstruction and political posturing. The nomination of this uncontroversial, widely respected nominee with bipartisan support was subjected to a pointless filibuster that was broken last night in an overwhelming vote of 89-5. But rather than let the nomination proceed immediately to a final vote, a single Republican senator has invoked a rule that has forced the entire business of the Senate to come to a grinding halt for 30 hours until a vote on Judge Jordán must be held.
Read More »AFJ Releases Data on the Judicial Nominations Process During the First Three Years of the Obama Administration
01/26/12
In the wake of President Barack Obama’s demand in the State of the Union address “that all judicial and public service nominations receive a simple up or down vote within 90 days,” Alliance for Justice today issued The State of the Judiciary: Judicial Nominations During the First Three Years of the Obama Presidency, a benchmark report detailing the reasons behind the current staffing crisis in the federal court system.
Read More »Alliance for Justice Calls on Chief Justice Roberts to Address Ethics Issues in His Annual State of the Judiciary Report
12/22/11
With the time fast approaching for your annual Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, I am writing on behalf of Alliance for Justice to respectfully urge you to take advantage of this important opportunity to address questions that have arisen about the ethical standards governing the Supreme Court. We, among many others, are growing increasingly concerned that the recent decline in public approval of the Court is due in part not only to the well-publicized and ethically questionable actions of some justices, but also to the lack of clear and unequivocal precepts governing justices’ behavior.
Read More »U.S. Senate Takes Holiday Break, Leaving a Lump of Coal in the Stocking of America's Federal Courts
12/20/11
Once again, the United States Senate has left town for a holiday without fulfilling its obligation to fully staff the federal courts and ensure that justice is available to all Americans. With 100 judicial vacancies in the federal court system, Senate Republicans continued their widely condemned tactics of obstruction and endless delay, and prevented final consideration of 21 nominees who have been cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee, in most cases with no opposition, and who simply need a final yes-or-no vote to take their seats on the seriously understaffed federal bench.
Read More »AFJ Condemns Senate Failure to Confirm Caitlin Halligan
12/06/11
Washington, D.C., December 6, 2011—Today’s vote by Republicans to filibuster the nomination of Caitlin Halligan has shattered any pretense that the judicial confirmation process is being conducted in a rational or honest manner. Ms. Halligan’s record of achievement in public service and private practice is impeccable and there is no conceivable justification for denying her a final vote. The notion advanced by her opponents that she is somehow out of the mainstream of legal thought or holds extreme views is ludicrous and reflects a breathtaking level of dishonesty and hypocrisy.
Read More »AFJ Calls on the Senate to End Unwarranted Filibuster and Confirm Caitlin Halligan
12/05/11
Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron issued the following statement on the upcoming cloture vote in the United States Senate on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit: “Caitlin Halligan is a highly qualified, widely respected attorney and public servant who deserves an affirmative vote in the Senate on her nomination to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It’s a measure of how contentious and dysfunctional the confirmation process has become for judicial nominees that someone with such impeccable credentials and widespread support is compelled to run the gauntlet of a completely unwarranted filibuster.
Read More »AFJ Calls for Senate Republicans to End Grinch-Like Obstruction and Give the Nation the Gift of New Federal Judges
11/29/11
Washington, D.C., November 29, 2011—Behaving like the Grinches who stole justice, Senate Republicans are continuing their three-year campaign to delay as long as possible final confirmation votes on President Barack Obama’s nominees to the federal courts. There are currently 22 nominees waiting for final action on the Senate floor, in spite of the fact that virtually all of them face no significant opposition and they have spent an average of 194 days working their way through the glacial Senate confirmation process.
Read More »Alliance for Justice Praises Letter from 52 Members of Congress Calling for Investigation of Clarence Thomas' Disclosure Lapses
11/21/11
Alliance for Justice today expressed strong support for a letter sent by 52 members of Congress, spearheaded by Reps. Louis Slaughter and Earl Blumenauer, calling on the U.S. Judicial Conference to investigate possible violations of the Ethics in Government Act by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The letter echoes a similar request from Alliance for Justice and Common Cause made on October 5, 2011.
Read More »AFJ Calls for Reform of Supreme Court Recusal Process in Anticipation of Expected Controversies Involving Health Care Cases
11/14/11
Nan Aron, President of Alliance for Justice, released the following statement on the need for the reform of the recusal process of the United States Supreme Court in the wake of the decision by the Court to hear cases challenging the 2010 health care law: "With the Supreme Court agreeing to hear cases challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, voices will be heard calling for Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from the case. Serious arguments have been made for Justice Thomas’ recusal and those claims deserve to be fully examined. "
Read More »Justices Scalia and Thomas to Attend Federalist Society Fundraising Dinner, Demonstrating Ongoing Lack of Respect for Judicial Ethics
11/09/11
The scheduled speaking appearances by Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas at a fundraising dinner at the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention on Thursday, November 10, plainly violates the principles outlined in the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. Their planned participation in this event once again calls attention to the disregard some justices have for commonly accepted ethical boundaries and to the need to formally apply the Code to Supreme Court justices.
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