Sen. Reid Speaks Out Against Obstruction of Obama Nominees

Yesterday, Majority Leader Harry Reid took to the floor of the Senate to highlight the adverse effects of Republican obstructionism. In the first four months of the Bush administration, when the Senate was controlled by the President’s party and Democrats were in the minority, there wasn’t a single filibuster of a Bush nominee. Yet, in the first four months of the Obama administration, Republicans filibustered eight of his nominees.
We know Obama’s nominees were not filibustered because they were controversial or unqualified, as their final votes were in the 80 to 97 vote range. As Senator Reid said,

I would try to explain the Republican reason for their refusal, but as with so many other things they oppose, a rationale simply doesn’t exist. Senate Republicans are simply so opposed to everything – absolutely everything – that they even oppose putting people in some of the most important positions in our government.
These delay tactics waste precious time when Congress should be working on issues such as health care, the economy, climate legislation, and filling the rampant vacancies in our judicial system.

The Senate must vote to confirm nominees such as Professor Dawn Johnsen, who was tapped to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) on February 11, 2009 and has still not had a vote despite her eminent qualifications, experience in the OLC during the Clinton administration, and support from distinguished Republicans and Democrats.

We’re glad Senator Reid has spoken out against these harmful delays and in favor of putting the president’s team in place to work for the American people.
Now it’s up to Majority Leader Reid to call the question and let the Senate vote on these highly qualified, outstanding nominees.

Alliance for Justice Board Member Bradley Whitford launches fundraising challenge

Yesterday, Alliance for Justice -- with the help of Brad Whitford -- issued a fundraising goal of $10,000 by November 12th.

On that day, Alliance for Justice is organizing a National Torture Accountablility Day of Action. If we can raise $10,000 by that date, we will be able to place targeted ads, organize dozens of events across the country, and mobilize thousands of activists to write, call, and email Attorney General Holder, urging him to release the report on the torture memos and investigate those who ordered, designed, and justified torture.

We have already raised 11% of our goal; will you help us get to 100% by November 12th?

Join Brad Whitford and help to raise the $10,000 AFJ needs to get the job done.

Tortured Law Film Making Waves

With over 70 screenings planned across the country, our new film Tortured Law is having an impact nationwide. Nearly 5,000 people have watched the film on YouTube, and its viral presence continues to grow. We’ve recruited thousands of people to join the campaign urging Attorney General Eric Holder to release the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility report and authorize a full investigation of those who ordered, designed, and justified torture.

We have had great events such as one last week at UC Berkeley School of Law, where one of the authors of the torture memos, John Yoo, is currently on faculty. The students there used our film as part of an event to launch their Torture Accountability Initiative.

Coming up, we have an exciting event at American University’s Washington College of Law on November 3rd, featuring Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Stephen Vladek, Nan Aron, David Luban, Stuart Taylor, and Daniel Levin. You can email films@afj.org to find out more or RSVP for this event. You can also find out more on our web page, www.afj.org/torture.

Help us continue the great momentum around the film by watching Tortured Law and sharing it with your friends today!

Bipartisan Cooperation Needed to Ensure Access to Justice in the Federal Courts

Guest Post on the ACSblog by Nan Aron, President, and Jennifer Meinig, Legislative Counsel, Alliance for Justice.

A new bill that would provide much-needed relief for the federal judiciary is caught up in the "say no to everything" approach of Senate Republicans.

No one disagrees that American courts need more judges. What's different now is that rather than both parties working together to pass legislation to create more seats, Republicans are refusing to support this effort...

Read the full post on the ACSblog.

Medical Malpractice Survivors Are Not Frivolous

Families from nine states, including many who have been catastrophically injured due to medical malpractice, traveled to Washington, D.C. yesterday to ask Congress to ensure that the much-needed health care bill does not strip injured patients of their legal rights. Standing in front of the U.S. Capitol wearing buttons proclaiming “I am not frivolous” the malpractice survivors also thanked lawmakers who stood with them at a news conference today, including U.S. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA).

The survivors shared poignant stories about their experiences with the health care system and emphasized the need to improve patient safety and all patients access to justice. “I hope the entire U.S. Congress takes their lead by focusing their attention on preventing these tragedies from happening and protecting the legal rights of all Americans,” said Lisa Gourley of Nebraska, whose son Colin was brain-damaged at birth as a result of a doctor’s negligence.

"Expanding access to health care for millions of uninsured Americans should not be coupled with blocking access to justice for injured patients in a blatant attempt to insulate insurance companies from responsibility for valid malpractice claims," said Nan Aron, President of Alliance for Justice.

Profile in Judicial Courage Passes On

A true leader in upholding the Constitution and the law to ensure equal justice for all has passed away: Judge William Wayne Justice. As a federal district judge, he ruled on controversial, ground-breaking class action suits in the state of Texas. His crucial decisions resulted in the integration of Texas public schools, the reform of prisons in the state, and the provision of free public education for the children of undocumented immigrants.

Judge Justice was notably courageous. As a result of his contentious rulings, he was the frequent victim of hate mail, death threats, ostracism, and calls for his impeachment. Here’s what he had to say about all of that: “Sure you’re affected by it. But on the other hand you have to keep your self-respect. If you know to yourself that you deliberately decide against what the law was just to affect your own personal comfort, you’re not much of a judge.”

AFJ featured Judge Justice in our film Upholding the Promise: Profiles in Judicial Courage which you can view on our web site.
Read more about this fearless giant in the New York Times.

The Myth of Defensive Medicine

Are doctors overloading patients with unnecessary tests to avoid possible malpractice claims, and driving up the cost of medical care as a result? Is the solution to limit the ability of patients who are victims of medical errors to hold doctors and hospitals accountable for their mistakes?

First of all, while some doctors may order unnecessary tests as a result of a variety of motives, studies do not show that so-called “defensive medicine” is a widespread or significant phenomenon.

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released October 9, 2009, found that there is no evidence of defensive medicine in private managed care systems, yet there is evidence of over-testing among Medicare patients. Patients in those two sectors are both covered by the same malpractice laws, so the comparison makes it clear that the solution to over-testing is not to take away victims’ legal rights but to manage medical charges more effectively.

The most common limit on victims’ rights – limiting joint and several liability, which has been enacted in at least 40 states – actually drives up costs because it “may increase the volume and intensity” of physician services.

The CBO report notes that “Imposing limits on [the right to sue for damages] might be expected to have a negative impact on health outcomes.” CBO cites a study that finds that restricting the right to seek compensation for malpractice would lead to a .2 percent increase in the nation’s overall death rate. That means an additional 48,000 Americans killed and more than 400,000 injured by medical malpractice over the next ten years.

Even if all the possible limits and restrictions on malpractice liability were enacted, the savings would represent only half a percent of the nation’s health care costs. That figure does not actually represent a “net” savings, of course, because the report does not quantify the added costs created by removing an important incentive to provide safe care.

The facts are clear. Limiting or severely restricting the ability to file a claim in court for medical malpractice denies justice to injured individuals while benefiting big corporations' balance sheets.

To learn the facts about the medical malpractice liability debate, see AFJ’s fact sheets and report on health care courts, and a fact sheet from the Center on Justice and Democracy on the CBO report.

AFJ's new film, Tortured Law Premieres

The legal architecture for torture was originally outlined and sanctioned in 2002 by a series of memos drafted by lawyers in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel. Were these lawyers simply giving the President their best legal advice? Or was their work part of a larger criminal conspiracy to distort the law and authorize torture?

Alliance for Justice's latest documentary film, Tortured Law premiered online today. This short film examines the role lawyers played in authorizing torture under the Bush Administration.



In addition to the online premiere, the film is being shown at campuses and in communities across the country. You can sign up to host a screening in your area today.

AFJ is using the film as a tool in an ongoing campaign calling on Attorney General Holder to release the OPR report and authorize a full investigation of those who ordered, designed, and justified torture. Get involved by signing the petition and sharing Tortured Law with your networks.

Who Will Put a Stop to Republican Obstructionism of Obama’s Nominees?

The Senate voted today to confirm Thomas E. Perez as Assistant Attorney General, heading the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice by a vote of 72-22. The confirmation vote followed a cloture vote required by Republican Senators intent on delaying action on President Obama’s nominees.

Cloture votes have been required for nine executive branch nominees in the first eight months of the Obama administration. That’s in contrast to the eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency, when cloture was filed on only 16 executive nominations.

We welcome the confirmation of Tom Perez, a highly qualified nominee with a big job ahead of him: meaningfully enforcing federal civil rights law. But, unfortunately, the Department of Justice is still waiting for the Senate to confirm many of its top executives. There are too many excellent candidates waiting in the wings who should be confirmed without further delay.

It is unconscionable that this confirmation required a cloture vote. It is clear that Republican senators are committed to holding up everything President Obama is trying to accomplish, even at the cost of hampering the government’s ability to conduct the people’s business.

During the Bush administration the Civil Rights Division suffered an onslaught of politicization that ranged from naming political appointees with no civil rights experience, to driving out career attorneys and replacing them with lawyers hostile to civil rights, to changing the mission of the division itself.

Attorney General Holder has pledged to restore traditional civil rights enforcement, implement measures to depoliticize hiring, and bring on new attorneys committed to enforcing, rather than eviscerating, civil rights protections. These actions are more than a needed course-correction; they are critical to defending the rights of every American and advancing the values of freedom, equality and justice that make this nation great.

The Senate should stop stalling, and give President Obama and Attorney General Holder the executive leadership needed to get the job done.

More Evidence Points to the Need for Accountability

The news broke yesterday that the government has been hiding video tapes that show the torture of detainee Mohammed al Qhatani. In his ongoing habeas litigation challenging his detention and alleging torture, al Qhatani was entitled to receive any exculpatory information that the government has relating to his case – but for over a year the government failed to even admit the existence of any videotapes of his abuse. Now, thanks to a discovery motion filed by his lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights, the government admits that the tapes exist, and the federal court has ordered their release to al Qhatani’s lawyers.

In yesterday's press release, CCR Executive Director Vincent Warren stated, “Mr. al Qahtani’s torture is already well-established, with a clear paper trail that leads all the way up the chain of command... The only question that remains is whether the people ultimately responsible for it will be held accountable for breaking the law and breaking faith with our system of justice.”

He's right, we have a right to know what shameful, unlawful actions were done by our government. These videos make one wonder what other evidence is being kept secret. We cannot prevent history from repeating itself until we know all the facts. Join Alliance for Justice in calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to release the OPR report, and hold accountable those who ordered, designed, and justified torture.

Coalition of Progressive Organizations Stands Up for ACORN

ACORN has announced that former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger was appointed to lead an independent inquiry into the “organizational systems and processes” of the embattled group’s social services and will make public the results of that inquiry.

Alliance for Justice in coalition with several other organizations has released a statement in support of ACORN and its efforts to get this important organization back on track. You can read the full release here.

The Washington Post picked up the story yesterday, highlighting the message that ACORN’s work, in helping low-income families get health care, stave off foreclosure, and find jobs, is particularly critical in this recession.

Expand Access to Health Care, Don’t Block Access to Justice

Today, Alliance for Justice joins consumer and public interest groups in an open letter to congress.

The ad, below will run in Politico, Roll Call, and The Hill. The letter urges Congress to reject any measures that limit patients’ legal rights, including measures that would force them into unfair “alternative” legal systems.

The current Senate Finance Committee health care bill contains language encouraging states to explore alternative litigation systems. Moreover, some conservative members of Congress have stated they will try to even further limit the legal rights of patients with “caps” on compensation and other “tort reforms.” Yet, studies show that malpractice costs are a tiny fraction of health care costs, and limiting Americans' ability to seek justice would have no impact lowering the country's overall health care expenditures.

The facts are clear. Limiting or severely restricting the ability to file a claim in court for medical malpractice denies justice to injured individuals while benefiting big corporations' balance sheets.