Civil rights

January 22, 2008 --"Today we recall the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the right of a woman to make the fundamental decision of whether and when to bear a child. This anniversary not only offers us an opportunity to reflect on the past 35 years, but the responsibility to look ahead and ask what we must do to continue to protect a woman’s right to control her own reproductive health decisions here in New York.    » read more »

January 16, 2008 -- The year 2007 was marked by a notable setback for global freedom, Freedom House reported in a worldwide survey of freedom released today.    » read more »

First Amendment Protects Web Site Operator Represented by Public Citizen

Dec. 18, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Video Professor, a Colorado firm that uses infomercials to hawk computer-training lessons, has dropped its fight to identify customers who criticized the company on two consumer Web sites, according to a motion filed in federal court.    » read more »

(As Prepared for Delivery)

December 17, 2007 -- "Mr. President, I am troubled by the FISA bill that has come to the Senate floor. Since I introduced the original FISA legislation over 30 years ago, I’ve worked to amend the FISA law many times, and I believe that this bill is not faithful to the traditional balance that FISA has struck. This bill gives the Executive Branch vast new authorities to spy on Americans, without adequate guidance or oversight. Americans deserve better.    » read more »

December 17, 2007 -- Washington, DC – “Today, the U.S. Senate took up the FISA Amendments Act of 2007. The bill under consideration gives telecommunication companies blanket retroactive immunity for their alleged cooperation in the administration's warrantless wiretapping program. I continue to believe that a grant of retroactive immunity is unjustified, and I have co-sponsored Senator Dodd’s measure to remove that provision from the bill.    » read more »

December 14, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties today remarked on the resignation of John Tanner as Chief of the Justice Department’s Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division.    » read more »

December 14, 2007 -- “John Tanner's resignation today as Chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice was long overdue. And while I welcome the news of Mr. Tanner's departure, it is quite clear that the systemic problems that plague the Voting Rights Section go well beyond one person. By what it has done and what it has failed to do, the Bush Justice Department has made clear it would rather advance its narrow partisan agenda than the cause of civil rights.    » read more »

Florida Marriage Amendment

December 13, 2007 -- McLean, VA - Fred Thompson released the following statement regarding the Florida Marriage Amendment:

"I applaud the work of Florida Coalition to Protect Marriage. Their efforts will give the people of Florida a voice on this very important subject. I strongly believe in the time honored principle of marriage being a union between one man and one woman, the foundation of any civilized society. Florida's Marriage Amendment will have my support in 2008.    » read more »

Statement of Paul Alan Levy, Attorney With Public Citizen*

Dec. 12, 2007 -- The Texas Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District at Texarkana took an important step today toward protecting the rights of Internet bloggers in Texas to write anonymously. In an opinion issued by Justice Jack Carter in Essent v. Doe, the court of appeals joins a broad consensus of state and federal courts in insisting that plaintiffs present sufficient evidence to show they could win at trial before gaining access to information identifying anonymous speakers.    » read more »

Fourteen Senators Urge Majority Leader to Take Up Senate Judiciary Committee Version of FISA Bill

December 12, 2007 -- Washington, DC – As the Senate prepares to consider legislation to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a group of senators is urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make the FISA bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) the base bill to be considered on the Senate floor.    » read more »

Coalition Offers Plan to Restore the American Dream Bring End to Predatory Practices

The nation’s largest civil rights organizations in conjunction with multiple community-based and consumer advocacy groups demand that millions of Americans be granted immediate relief from the nation’s mortgage crisis.    » read more »

November 02, 2007 -- Manning, SC -- Speaking at the Clarendon County Courthouse in Manning, SC, Senator Barack Obama will deliver remarks today commemorating the struggle of the civil rights foot soldiers and calling on African Americans and all Americans to write the next chapter in the civil rights movement.

Roughly sixty years ago in Clarendon County, Reverend J.A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs and others filed a lawsuit that challenged unequal education - a case that became part of Brown v. Board of Education.    » read more »

October 30, 2007 -- (Washington, DC) - Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties heard testimony from Justice Department Civil Rights Voting Section Chief John Tanner and voting and civil rights experts about the Voting Section's civil rights enforcement record as well as the impact of voter ID laws on minority voting. Members took particular issue with Tanner's recent statement: "...our society is such that minorities don't become elderly the way that white people do.    » read more »

October 29, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on the confirmation of Judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

“Southwick's appalling record on civil rights and the rights of employees who challenge corporate abuses does not qualify him for a lifetime appointment to the court of appeals. His confirmation is a setback for our nation and especially for the Fifth Circuit, the court once famed for the courage of its judges in standing up for civil rights.”

Source: Senator Ted Kennedy

October 24, 2007 -- "Mr. President, I will oppose the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals because I have serious questions about his ability to be an impartial jurist.

I am concerned that Judge Southwick’s views of racial discrimination in jury selection reflect a lack of adequate respect for Supreme Court precedent. In Batson v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court ruled against preemptory dismissal of jurors without stating a valid cause for doing so may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race.    » read more »