PEOPLE FOR BLOG

The Senate Judiciary Committee announced today that it will hold a hearing next week on the nomination of Jane Kelly to be a judge on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. This is great news, and not only because she's an excellent nominee: It also shows how efficiently the nomination and confirmation process can work.

During the summer, circuit Judge Mike Melloy announced that he would be taking senior status early in 2013. Since he is from Iowa, his replacement would also be from Iowa, and Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin launched a process to identify qualified nominees to recommend to the White House. He forwarded two names in November, and the White House – after a full vetting process that takes many weeks – announced its nomination of Kelly on January 31, just one day after the vacancy formally opened up. Sen. Harkin's speed was an essential part of keeping this vacancy open for as short a time as possible.

Iowa's other senator is also playing a key role in moving the process along, because the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy will not hold a hearing on a nominee until both home-state senators give their approval (or, in Senate lingo, "submit their blue slips"). That senator is none other than the committee's ranking Republican, Chuck Grassley, who in this case quickly gave his approval to a clearly qualified nominee. So three weeks after the nomination was announced, the hearing has been scheduled.

Kelly is a terrific nominee who has dedicated her career to defending those who cannot afford to pay for legal representation. She has been an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Iowa since 1994. She would be the first public defender to sit on the Eighth Circuit, bringing an important element of professional diversity to the court. She would also be the first woman from Iowa to serve on the Eighth Circuit and only the second woman to serve on that court.

With the president, White House staff, and Sens. Harkin and Grassley all working together to quickly fill a vacancy with a highly qualified nominee, the process is moving along at an excellent pace. We look forward to the hearing and a timely committee vote, and we hope that she will then expeditiously get a confirmation vote from the full Senate.

It will be hard. But the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you.

At a Senate Judiciary hearing on January 30th, Gabrielle Giffords offered those powerful opening words to the committee and in doing so, set the foundation for a national dialogue on the issue of gun violence in America. President Obama echoed these sentiments at his State of the Union address last week, evoking the memories of those lost to gun violence by saying four simple words: “they deserve a vote.”

But it wasn’t long after Giffords’ opening words had faded from the hearing room that the gun lobby and its supporters in Congress had begun putting up a stiff wall of resistance to common sense solutions to gun violence. First was NRA Vice-President Wayne LaPierre who spoke against universal background checks for firearms, despite his past statements supporting such proposals in the wake of previous gun violence incidents. When interviewed by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, LaPierre doubled-down on his opposition, warning that universal checks could lead to the federal government creating a national registry:

I think what they’ll do is they’ll turn this universal check on the law-abiding into a universal registry of law-abiding people, and law-abiding people don’t want that…I just don’t think you can trust [them].

In fact, LaPierre’s statements were so outlandish during the hearing and his media interviews, that Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a gun violence prevention group chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, aired an advertisement during the Super Bowl to call out the NRA on its hypocrisy.

Unfortunately for the country, the NRA’s reckless messaging was only beginning. Last weekend at a state convention in Wisconsin, NRA lobbyist Bob Welch bemoaned the “Connecticut effect” that was interfering with their legislative focus:

We have a strong agenda coming up for next year, but of course a lot of that’s going to be delayed as the “Connecticut effect” has to go through the process. I will tell you, the best sign on how well we are doing…is the people who don’t like guns realize that they can’t do a thing unless they talk to us. After Connecticut I had one of the leading Democrats in the legislature [say] “How about we close this gun show loophole? Wouldn’t that be good?” And I said, “no we’re not going to do that.” And so far, nothing’s happened on that.

The furor over the comment, which was blasted by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing last Tuesday, has since caused the NRA to halfheartedly distance themselves from the speaker, but to little avail. The NRA is out of touch with the mainstream, plain and simple.

For the radical pro-gun activists in Congress, meanwhile, legislators looked far and wide in an effort to place the blame of gun violence on anything other than the guns themselves. Representative James Lankford (R-OK), the fifth-ranking House Republican, blamed gun violence on the children of “welfare moms.” Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) even took himself to MSNBC to offer this incredulous claim:

I think video games is a bigger problem than guns because video games affect people.

The big gun lobby and its yes men in Congress, it seems, are much more interested in protecting the loose regulations of the gun industry than they are with taking practical steps towards public safety. Other organizations dedicated to ending gun violence have begun noticing, with Americans United for Change even sending Congressional Republicans stickers to wear at the State of the Union that say “I Put Gun Maker $ Before Kids’ Safety”

The fact that the NRA and groups like it have such an outsized influence on this national debate is alarming, especially when poll after poll shows the overwhelming majority of Americans favor common sense proposals such as universal background checks. These voices of reason must not be drowned out by the radical pro-gun activists in this national discussion. Countless legislators behind closed doors have said that constituent feedback on this issue is the number one motivator for their position and level of passion on the proposed solutions. This week, legislators are back in their districts, so now is the time to act. Making a simple phone call or scheduling an in-person meeting is vital to keeping this issue on the forefront of legislators’ minds.

To find out the contact information for your Representative, click here. For your Senators, click here.

During the first post-Citizens United presidential election, the American people were able to see just how distorted and outsized corporate influence and Super PACs have become in our democracy.

But the Citizens United decision has not only caused corporate political spending to grow to outlandish proportions; it has also served to muzzle politicians who attempt to stand up to big corporations. Now more than any time in recent history, members of Congress must factor into their voting decisions the awareness that if they go against the special interests of a big corporation, they face the possibility of thousands, even millions of dollars in corporate money used against them in their races.

Fortunately, the American people have taken note and are taking action. Unprecedented public support for meaningful reform has already led to substantial progress in states all across the country and a mounting public movement demanding a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore our democracy has emerged. Over 400 cities and towns, as well as 11 states, have called on Congress to send the states an amendment proposal that would overturn the disastrous decision. Just this week, PFAW and ally organizations re-launched the “Declaration For Democracy” campaign, which helps identify and amplify the voices of public officials who support amending the Constitution to overturn Citizens United and related cases.

Now the state of Washington is looking to add its voice to the growing consensus. Earlier this month, a group of state legislators, led by Sen. Adam Kline and Rep. Jamie Pedersen introduced companion bills requesting that Congress pass a constitutional amendment to return the authority to regulate election spending to Congress and state legislatures. The bills, which have already received committee hearings, now face their first hurdle: gathering enough legislator support for passage.

If you are a Washington citizen, call your state representative and senator and let them know how important this issue is to you. With your help, we can ensure that it is the voters, and not the corporations, who are holding our legislators accountable.

Over two million petition signatures nationwide have been collected in support of a constitutional amendment that would get big, corporate money out of politics. Republicans and Democrats. Teachers and lawyers. Students and senior citizens. All have joined the growing chorus of Americans who are fed up with being voiceless. We need to make sure our legislators are listening closely.

Ensuring that our democracy remains free from outside and outsized influence is not a Democratic value or a Republican value, it’s an American value. This is an issue that we can all get behind, regardless of political affiliation, because it is an issue that affects all of us.

Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve Caitlin Halligan's nomination to the critically important DC Circuit. President Obama chose wisely in nominating her.

Of course, no one can question her legal qualifications as a prosecutor and a litigator. Currently the General Counsel for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, she also spent six years serving as New York State's Solicitor General. She is a nationally respected litigator who has earned the ABA's highest possible evaluation of her qualifications.

But that only tells part of the story. Her career shows that she recognizes that protecting individuals, their families, and their entire communities requires not only tough prosecution, but tough prosecution done fairly. So while she shares management responsibility for the Manhattan DA's Special Victims Bureau (which prosecutes those involved in child abuse, rape, domestic violence, and elder abuse), she also has been instrumental in the DA's Conviction Integrity Program, which seeks to prevent and correct wrongful convictions. Her nomination has been supported by numerous law enforcement individuals and organizations, including Robert Morgenthau (former DA of Manhattan), Raymond Flynn (New York City's Police Commissioner), and the National District Attorneys Association.

The best judges understand keenly how the law affects ordinary people. Halligan has worked to help economically disadvantaged families throughout her career. Even before law school, she worked at Georgians for Children, a statewide public policy organization that focuses on issues related to impoverished children and families. Over the years, she has engaged in pro bono work and community service projects that focus on families with the greatest needs. For example, she represented victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita who were at risk of losing their housing assistance.

In its 120-year history, the DC Circuit has had a grand total of five women judges. Halligan clerked for the first of those, trailblazer Patricia Wald, and she would be the sixth if confirmed. The National Conference of Women's Bar Associations, the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the National Center for Women and Policing, and the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce are just some of the women's organizations that are supporting her nomination.

Caitlin Halligan has excelled throughout her career. With yet another vacancy opening up on the DC Circuit just this past week, the need for someone of her caliber on the bench is greater than ever before.

This morning, the Judiciary Committee voted to approve a number of judicial nominations and send them to the Senate floor. Among them were two key circuit court nominees who were blocked from confirmation votes in the previous congress, Patty Shwartz (Third Circuit) and Caitlin Halligan (DC Circuit). With Judge David Sentelle taking senior status this week, four of the 11 judgeships at the DC Circuit are now vacant.

Press Secretary Jay Carney has told reporters:

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Caitlin Halligan for the DC Circuit. Ms. Halligan has the experience, integrity, and judgment to serve with distinction on this court, which now stands more than a third vacant. Her broad bipartisan support from the legal and law enforcement communities should lead to swift confirmation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also approved twelve other nominees for federal judgeships with bipartisan support – eleven unanimously. All of them are extremely well-qualified and would make excellent judges. They also reflect the President's unprecedented commitment to a judiciary that reflects the nation it serves. We urge the Senate to move forward on all of the judicial nominees pending before it. Some would fill judicial emergencies, and some have been waiting hundreds of days for a vote. This needless delay is unacceptable, and these nominees deserve immediate consideration by the full Senate.

We welcome the Obama Administration's focus on confirming the many qualified judicial nominations that are moving through the confirmation process. There is no reason that his second term should see the same kind of obstruction on judges that we suffered through during the first.

DOMA’s Days Are Over
 

This piece is the third in a series of guest blog posts on “Why It’s Time to Dump DOMA.” In the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court arguments on the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, we’re asking friends of PFAW to share why dumping DOMA matters to them. Be sure to check back soon for the latest post in the series.

All Americans deserve equal treatment under the law. The President has acknowledged that, as have the nine states (plus the District of Columbia) that allow gays and lesbians to marry. A number of other states offer some form of relationship recognition status. But thanks to DOMA, the federal government doesn’t recognize all legally married couples, and states can refuse to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.  And in Montana, same-sex couples can’t get married to begin with. That's why I care about dumping DOMA.

I'm queer and would like the chance to marry the person I love someday. Heck, I've got a master's degree and was elected to the City Council at age 28, but I'm not to be trusted with a lifelong commitment? All loving couples should have access to the legal protections they need to take care of each other, and I don't feel like I should have to move to a city to be myself and have the kind of life I want.

I'm a fourth generation Idahoan and now a proud Montanan, and I want to raise my kid in a place where they can hike, climb, backpack, fish, and hunt just a few minutes from home. Most Montanans value fairness and dignity. They judge you more by how you treat your neighbor than what you do in the privacy of your own bedroom. They believe in following the law. I think my fellow Montanans will come around when they see the sky doesn't fall when committed same-sex couples tie the knot.

So let's do it. Let's dump DOMA, and allow all Americans to pursue happiness by marrying the person they love.

Caitlin Copple, Missoula, MT City Councilmember
Member of affiliate People For the American Way Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network

Today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing exemplified the great steps President Obama is taking to increase the personal and professional diversity in the federal judiciary. Five district court nominees introduced themselves to the senators and answered questions. Of the five:

Two are openly gay. Three are Latinos. One of them would be the nation's first openly lesbian Latina on the federal bench. Three have experience as public defenders.

Each nominee is highly qualified, is supported by both of their home state senators, and faced no difficult questions at the hearing.

Michael McShane (District of Oregon), Ken Gonzales (District of New Mexico), and Nitza Quiñones Alejandro, Luis Felipe Restrepo, and Jeffrey Schmehl (all of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania) will make excellent additions to the federal bench.

It is worth noting that the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has a staggering eight vacancies out of 22 judgeships. All three of the Pennsylvania nominees would fill seats that have been vacant for at least two years. Sen. Toomey noted that Berks County, where Schmehl would serve, has not had an active judge serve that area in three years.

All five of today's nominees deserve timely consideration by the Senate.