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PFAW: U.S. Supreme Court Eroded Civil Rights, Libe
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
PFAW: U.S. Supreme Court Eroded Civil Rights, Liberties In 2002;
Next Justice Will Shape The Future Of Constitutional Protections
To: National Desk
Contact: Tracy Duckett or Nathan Richter of People for the
American Way, 202-467-4999
WASHINGTON, July 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In its 2001-2002 term, the
U.S. Supreme Court attacked civil rights and liberties, striking
blows to the separation of church and state, the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), the privacy rights of students and other
fundamental rights. The number of close decisions -- often by 5-4
votes -- that were led or joined by Associate Justices Antonin
Scalia and Clarence Thomas points out the grave risk presented by
future appointees in the mold of these two right-wing activist
justices.
A new report released today by People For the American Way
Foundation (PFAWF) chronicles the threat posed by the Supreme
Court's ultra-conservative members to decades of progress on civil
rights and liberties, the environment and other fundamental
freedoms. In its annual update to 2000's groundbreaking Courting
Disaster, PFAWF analyzes the 2001-2002 term's non-criminal law
decisions in six areas: civil rights and discrimination, federalism
and governmental authority, privacy rights and reproductive
freedom, religious liberty, free expression and censorship, and
consumer and worker protection.
"The last eight years have been the longest gap between Supreme
Court appointments in 179 years. We are long overdue for a new
associate justice, who will help determine the future of our civil
rights, environmental protections, reproductive rights, privacy,
religious liberty, freedom of expression and so much more," People
For the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas said today.
The 2002 Courting Disaster report profiles the growing strength
of the Court's right-wing bloc. In one case, the court severely
limited the ADA by ruling that a company need not alter some of its
personnel policies to accommodate a disabled worker. In another
decision, the Court promoted a "states' rights" agenda by ruling
that federal administrative agencies cannot hold states responsible
for disobeying federal law, essentially denying citizens effective
recourse in many such cases. And in one of its final rulings, the
closely divided Court perilously undermined the wall between church
and state by upholding a school voucher plan. PFAWF's report also
features several cases in which the Court rejected by narrow
margins efforts by Scalia and Thomas to diminish government
protections for patients' rights, the environment, and civil
rights.
"By examining the work of these two justices in their own words,
we can see how crucial it is that the next associate justice have
a commitment to the Constitution's protection of all Americans,"
said Neas. "President Bush stated that he would seek to fill
Supreme Court vacancies with justices like Scalia and Thomas. The
latest installment of Courting Disaster demonstrates the disastrous
consequences that another Scalia or Thomas could bring. Indeed, a
Scalia-Thomas majority could shatter more than a hundred Supreme
Court precedents."
The Courting Disaster 2002 update is available online at
http://www.pfaw.org/issues/judiciary/reports/courting_disaster_2002.pdf
http://www.usnewswire.com
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
07/02 15:15
Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/first/0702-131.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Next Justice Will Shape The Future Of Constitutional Protections
To: National Desk
Contact: Tracy Duckett or Nathan Richter of People for the
American Way, 202-467-4999
WASHINGTON, July 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In its 2001-2002 term, the
U.S. Supreme Court attacked civil rights and liberties, striking
blows to the separation of church and state, the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), the privacy rights of students and other
fundamental rights. The number of close decisions -- often by 5-4
votes -- that were led or joined by Associate Justices Antonin
Scalia and Clarence Thomas points out the grave risk presented by
future appointees in the mold of these two right-wing activist
justices.
A new report released today by People For the American Way
Foundation (PFAWF) chronicles the threat posed by the Supreme
Court's ultra-conservative members to decades of progress on civil
rights and liberties, the environment and other fundamental
freedoms. In its annual update to 2000's groundbreaking Courting
Disaster, PFAWF analyzes the 2001-2002 term's non-criminal law
decisions in six areas: civil rights and discrimination, federalism
and governmental authority, privacy rights and reproductive
freedom, religious liberty, free expression and censorship, and
consumer and worker protection.
"The last eight years have been the longest gap between Supreme
Court appointments in 179 years. We are long overdue for a new
associate justice, who will help determine the future of our civil
rights, environmental protections, reproductive rights, privacy,
religious liberty, freedom of expression and so much more," People
For the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas said today.
The 2002 Courting Disaster report profiles the growing strength
of the Court's right-wing bloc. In one case, the court severely
limited the ADA by ruling that a company need not alter some of its
personnel policies to accommodate a disabled worker. In another
decision, the Court promoted a "states' rights" agenda by ruling
that federal administrative agencies cannot hold states responsible
for disobeying federal law, essentially denying citizens effective
recourse in many such cases. And in one of its final rulings, the
closely divided Court perilously undermined the wall between church
and state by upholding a school voucher plan. PFAWF's report also
features several cases in which the Court rejected by narrow
margins efforts by Scalia and Thomas to diminish government
protections for patients' rights, the environment, and civil
rights.
"By examining the work of these two justices in their own words,
we can see how crucial it is that the next associate justice have
a commitment to the Constitution's protection of all Americans,"
said Neas. "President Bush stated that he would seek to fill
Supreme Court vacancies with justices like Scalia and Thomas. The
latest installment of Courting Disaster demonstrates the disastrous
consequences that another Scalia or Thomas could bring. Indeed, a
Scalia-Thomas majority could shatter more than a hundred Supreme
Court precedents."
The Courting Disaster 2002 update is available online at
http://www.pfaw.org/issues/judiciary/reports/courting_disaster_2002.pdf
http://www.usnewswire.com
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
07/02 15:15
Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/first/0702-131.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878