Alliance for Justice Releases Report on Kagan

Alliance for Justice announced its support today for the nomination of Elena Kagan to a seat on the United States Supreme Court. This endorsement is accompanied by a detailed report analyzing her views and actions on key legal issues, particularly during her years in the Clinton White House and service as Solicitor General. The 54-page report, which covers her record on topics such as the First Amendment, due process, civil rights, criminal justice, executive power, national security, and corporate oversight, among others, is available here: http://www.afj.org/check-the-facts/supreme-court-watch/report-on-kagan-final.pdf.

When President Obama first announced Elena Kagan as his nominee to replace Justice Stevens he stated that Kagan will maintain a “commitment to protect our fundamental rights" and understands that "in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.” Alliance for Justice has long been concerned by the unmistakable trend of the current Court to favor powerful corporate interests over those of everyday Americans, and we believe that Elena Kagan will stand against this tide and will be a strong voice in defense of the core constitutional values Americans cherish.

The confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin on Monday, June 28, at 12:30 p.m. You can follow AFJ’s response to the proceedings on Twitter and on our website.

Reports on the Supreme Court Short List

With Washington abuzz with talk about who might be President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, Alliance for Justice has developed brief background reports on the most likely nominees. They are available on our new Supreme Court Watch web page along with a major report that sheds light on the current pro-big-business tilt of the Roberts Court and a retrospective on the career of Justice Stevens.

As this story develops in the coming weeks, additional materials will be posted. Be sure to check back frequently as we monitor this appointment, which is critical to the future of the Supreme Court, the judiciary as a whole, and the lives of ordinary Americans.

If you want to be sure to receive action alerts, breaking news, the inside scoop on the federal judiciary, and the confirmation process for Federal Judges sign up for our Justice Action Network.

Americans Are Ready for a Gay Justice

Just over a year ago, we asked if openly gay federal judges were more than a dream. Back then, we reported that of the more than 1,300 federal judges, only one, Deborah Batts (appointed by President Clinton to the Southern District of New York in 1994), was openly gay.

Now, a year later, a recent 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll shows that 55 percent of Americans would support an openly gay Supreme Court justice, with 40 percent saying they are opposed. With Justice Stevens likely to retire in the near future, President Obama may have an opportunity to nominate someone to the nation’s highest court in the near future. Of those on the likely short list is Pam Karlan, an out lesbian and a Stanford Law professor.

Of his 57 nominations to the federal circuit and district courts, none of President Obama’s nominees for the federal bench has been openly gay. That may change soon, however, since Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has recommended Daniel Alter to serve on the U.S. district court for the Southern District of New York. If confirmed, he will become the first openly gay male on the federal bench.

While Rumors Fly About Possible Supreme Court Vacancy, Senate Moves Forward With Nominees

With the news that Justice John Paul Stevens has hired only one clerk for the Supreme Court’s 2010-2011 term, many in DC are speculating that this may be his final term on the court. While Justice Stevens’ office has confirmed that he only hired one clerk, they would not comment on the possibility of retirement. Regardless of whether or not we’ll see another Supreme Court vacancy any time soon, the Senate Judiciary Committee is resuming their work to fill vacancies on the federal appeals and district courts. A hearing has been scheduled for next Wednesday, September 9th with Senator Whitehouse (D-RI) presiding.

The hearing will consider the nomination of Judge Joseph Greenaway to fill a seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in addition to district court nominees Roberto Lange for the District of South Dakota, Irene Berger for the District of West Virginia, and Charlene Honeywell for the Middle District of Florida. The hearing will also consider the nomination of Ignacia Moreno to be Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Energy and National Resource Division. Hopefully, the scheduling of this hearing is a promising sign that the president’s nominees will move more quickly through the confirmation process now that Justice Sotomayor has been confirmed.

And speaking of Justice Sotomayor… Wednesday is shaping up to be quite the busy day. Justice Sotomayor will have an early start to her career as a Supreme Court justice when she hears her first oral argument next week during a special session, the reargument of Citizens United v. FEC. The full Supreme Court term will begin as usual, on the first Monday of October, this year on October 5, 2009.

America's Future Now

If you are in Washington, DC for this year’s America’s Future Now conference feel free to stop by our table in the exhibit hall to learn more about Alliance for Justice and say hello to our staff. Tomorrow at 3:40 pm our AFJ President, Nan Aron will be introducing the panel “Battle for the Courts” we hope you can join us for what is sure to be an informative discussion. Additionally, in honor of Torture Awareness Month, we hope you will join us in attending Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s (D-NY) session to discuss torture, presidential abuse and accountability.

You may remember that a few weeks ago we hosted an event regarding accountability for the author of the infamous “Torture Memos” asking the question of whether impeachment was appropriate for Judge Jay Bybee. You can watch video from that event online.

Nan Aron on CSPAN

Alliance for Justice President, Nan Aron was on CSPAN this morning talking about Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. You can watch it online here.

Justice the Video

The Coalition for Constitutional Values, a national coalition of the nation’s leading nonprofit and advocacy organizations, announced today that it will begin airing “Justice” a new 30-second television spot that will run on national network news and cable news starting today. The Coalition for Constitutional Values, whose members represent millions of Americans, believes it is important that the American people know about the qualities of their Supreme Court justices.

The new spot is part of a broader public education campaign launched by the Coalition for Constitutional Values, co-chaired by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Alliance for Justice and People for the American Way. The Coalition hopes the spot will introduce the American public to Judge Sotomayor who has experience in nearly every aspect of the law, having served as a big-city prosecutor and a corporate litigator, a federal trial judge and an appellate judge.

"In selecting Judge Sotomayor, the president has nominated a candidate of sterling credentials who will uphold the Constitution and the law,” said Nan Aron, co-chair of the Coalition for Constitutional Values and president of Alliance for Justice. “We commend President Obama for choosing a brilliant and fair-minded jurist to serve on our nation’s highest court. Judge Sotomayor is precisely the kind of nominee we need – one who, as President Obama described, ‘has the intellectual firepower but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works.’”

Watch the video and learn more on our Supreme Court Watch Page.

Sonia Sotomayor

President Obama has picked Sonia Sotomayor as his Supreme Court nominee. We are thrilled with this choice. Sonia Sotomayor will be a strong voice to uphold the Constitution and the law to provide equal justice and protect personal freedoms for everyone in America, regardless of wealth, status, or popularity.

President Obama has nominated a highly qualified candidate with a compelling personal story and outstanding educational credentials. She has made history as the first Latina appointed to the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor has more federal judicial experience than any justice nominated to the Supreme Court in the past 100 years.