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Equal
Justice Society e-Newsletter - Issue 4 - Summer 2005
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| SUBSCRIBE Getting this forwarded from a friend? Subscribe to get our newsletter delivered directly to you! IN THIS ISSUE Ms. Paterson Goes to Washington Statewide Coalition Forms to Keep Extremists Off the Federal Bench Notes on the Right: Extraordinary Circumstances: The Assault on the Judiciary Linking Progressive Corporate Law with Social Justice Movements: A "First of Its Kind" Conference EJS Amicus Brief Charges Unlimited Campaign Spending Unfair to Communities of Color and the Poor The Big Money Behind Ward Connerly Law
Review Summaries: Affirmative Action Newsletter
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Ms. Paterson Goes to Washington Many
of us baby boomers remember the Cold War and the overarching fear
of nuclear weapons. We were taken aback when the conservatives
in the United States Senate threatened to "go nuclear"
with regard to the confirmation of nominees to the federal bench.
The Equal Justice Society found itself right in the middle of
this historically momentous power struggle. But first some background. |
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Briefing and Reception for Summer Associates & Law Students:
"The Federal Courts, Public Opinion and the Media"
[Updated June 27, 2005] The Equal Justice Society will host a briefing and reception for summer associates and law students on Wednesday, July 27, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The City Club of San Francisco, 115 Sansome St., 11th Floor. The event will feature an informative dialogue with national pollster David Mermin, Partner, of Lake, Snell, Perry, Mermin & Associates, and veteran legal affairs reporter Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle about our Federal courts and the judicial selection process. Entrance is free to summer associates and law students. As progressive lawyers, we cannot afford to work in a vacuum. We need to know what the American public is thinking, and how the media is portraying major legal issues, including the role of the federal courts.You might be surprised to learn that recent polling showed that many Americans think there are nineteen Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court and that most Americans have no idea who Antonin Scalia is! Please
RSVP by Wednesday, July 20, to Swati Kapadia at |
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Statewide
Coalition Forms to Keep Extremists Off the Federal Bench It
is always dangerous to write a newsletter article on a subject
that is moving rapidly. What is written today, may be old news
tomorrow. We are now in the throes of a battle to oppose confirmation
of extreme conservative judges to the federal bench - a battle
that will no doubt continue throughout the Bush administration,
culminating in at least one and perhaps two nominations to the
U.S. Supreme Court. But whatever comes our way, the Equal Justice
Society is on the frontlines - and we have joined our allies in
an impressive statewide coalition to monitor, expose and oppose
the nominations of extreme judges to the federal bench. |
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Notes
on the Right: Extraordinary Circumstances: The Assault on the
Judiciary The political turmoil surrounding the showdown over the Democrats' use of the filibuster to block a handful of the Bush administration's judicial nominees highlighted interesting changes in how the right wing now balances the tactical need for careful legislative maneuvering to prevail in major Beltway political battles while keeping its base well-fed, fired up and involved. It will be instructive to see how all this comes together in the looming battle over Supreme Court vacancies. The key question is whether the Christian right will finally be able to move its radical legal agenda on social issues, especially abortion and church-state separation, after three decades of frustration. READ MORE |
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Linking
Progressive Corporate Law with Social Justice Movements: A "First
of Its Kind" Conference In April the Equal Justice Society joined Seattle University's School of Law Center on Corporations, Law & Society and UCLA School of Law's Critical Race Studies Concentration to explore the linkages between progressive corporate law and social justice movements in a 3-day conference entitled "New Strategies for Justice: Linking Progressive Corporate Law with Social Justice Movements." READ MORE |
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EJS
Amicus Brief Charges Unlimited Campaign Spending Arguing that the absence of campaign spending limits severely restricts access of minority and low-income communities to the political process, the Equal Justice Society will file an amicus curiae brief in June in the United States Supreme Court in Landell v. Sorrell, a Vermont case that addresses the constitutionality of mandatory campaign spending limits in state campaigns. READ MORE |
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The
Big Money Behind Ward Connerly On May 18th Ward Connerly was forced by the Fair Political Practices Commission to divulge the names of the key financial backers of Proposition 54, his 2003 ballot measure that would have prevented the state of California from collecting vitally important racial data. It has now been confirmed that Connerly, an African American businessman and former UC Regent, was fronting for a wealthy all-white group of top funders. READ MORE |
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Review Summaries: Affirmative Action By Susan K. Serrano As the battles over Bush's judicial nominations rage on, vital freedoms and rights are at stake. The confirmation of California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has sent an alarm through the civil rights community in California, who are familiar with her disastrous opinions on the state high court. Brown has consistently voted to invalidate worker and consumer protections, strike down property regulations, and restrict civil rights laws. Brown is perhaps best known, however, as the author of Hi-Voltage Wire Works v. City of San Jose, in which she likened affirmative action to Jim Crow era segregation. READ MORE |
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Staff/Board News & Notes: EJS Welcomes New Director of Law and Public Policy, Bids Farewell to Susan Serrano The Equal Justice Society is pleased to welcome Kimberly Thomas-Rapp who joins EJS as the Director of Law and Public Policy. We also say goodbye to Susan Kyomi Serrano, EJS Research Director, who, as the first staff person of EJS, has played a key role in building the organization over the last five years. READ MORE |
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From
Eva Paterson
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The Equal Justice Society is a national organization of scholars, advocates and concerned individuals advancing innovative legal strategies and public policy for enduring social change. We generate critical analysis on issues of race and social justice through research, public education and bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to reshape jurisprudence to ensure that the rights of all are expanded, rather than diminished, by our courts and policy makers. Equal Justice Society, 220 Sansome St, 14th Flr, San Francisco, CA 94104, Ph (415) 288-8700 |