Caution: Do not be drinking anything when you read who makes up this "wide array of perspectives" panel.
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0815-137.html
PFAW Panel: Rightward Court Shift Would Imperil Freedoms
U.S. Newswire
15 Aug 18:41
Rightward Shift on Supreme Court Would Imperil Freedoms, Panel Warns
To: National Desk, Political Reporter
Contact: Nancy Coleman of People for the American Way,
310-478-6657 or 202-215-1481 (cell)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The most important and
far-reaching issue in the upcoming presidential election is who the
next president will choose for the U.S. Supreme Court. That's because
the president that the American people pick in November is likely to
have the chance to pick as many as three Supreme Court Justices over
the next four years.
The candidates have made no secret of what kind of Justices they
see as the model they would follow in selecting their own nominees.
Vice President Al Gore has identified Justice Thurgood Marshall, who
championed individual and civil rights during his years on the Court,
as the sort of jurist he would look for. Governor George W. Bush, on
the other hand, has held up the current Court's two most right-wing
justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, as his ideal. The vast
gulf between the candidates' thinking on this critically important
issue, together with the narrow Court majority that is currently
protecting many fundamental rights, underscores how important it is
for Americans to look to the Court when they decide on a President.
The choices the next president makes will profoundly affect
fundamental rights and freedoms that Americans have come to take for
granted.
Just how drastic those changes would be and the consequences for
ordinary Americans was brought home by speaker after speaker at a
special issues forum this morning for elected officials and delegates
attending the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
Hosted by People for the American Way, the forum included speakers
from a wide array of perspectives, who all concurred that the Supreme
Court is the single most important issue before the voters this fall.
Speakers included Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Democratic
strategist and adviser James Carville, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume,
Sierra Club President Robert Cox, Voters for Choice Executive
Director Julie Burton, pollster Celinda Lake, and PFAW President
Ralph G. Neas.
"With so many important rights riding on just one or two votes and
so many Justices nearing retirement, it's no exaggeration to say that
the Supreme Court makes this the most important election in over half
a century," said Neas. "We are urging all Americans to look at this
issue carefully when they make their judgment in November about
who they want for President."
While there is no mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court
Justices, several factors lead many observers to indicate that we
should be expecting several retirements soon. Neas noted that it has
been six years since the most recent Court appointment and that only
once before in our nation's history has there been such a long
interval between Supreme Court nominations, and that ended 177 years
ago, when James Monroe was president. Four of the current justices
are between 67 and 80 and two more will turn 65 next year. So the
prospect of new right-wing appointments takes on particular urgency,
especially given the closely divided nature of the current court on
fundamental constitutional issues, Neas said.
The judicial philosophy of Scalia and Thomas, documented in their
long public record of dissenting and concurring opinions, makes it
clear that a Scalia-Thomas majority could overturn more than
100 precedents on reproductive choice, privacy, worker and consumer
rights, environmental protection and civil rights protections for
women, racial and religious minorities, gay men and lesbians, and
older Americans. A Supreme Court dominated by Scalia and Thomas
would make gun control, environmental protection, and campaign
finance reform much more difficult.
"Our nation's most fundamental definition of justice is hanging in
the balance this November," said Neas, "and we're working to make
sure that every American gets that message."
People for the American Way is carrying out an extensive campaign
to mobilize progressive voters around the threat to the future of the
Supreme Court. Detailed documentation on Scalia's and Thomas' records
on the bench is available at http://www.pfaw.org.
------
People for the American Way is a national advocacy organization
working to defend and protect Americans' constitutional liberties and
civil rights.
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
08/15 18:41
Copyright 2000, U.S. Newswire
------------------
"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside
the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." (Romans 13:12)
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0815-137.html
PFAW Panel: Rightward Court Shift Would Imperil Freedoms
U.S. Newswire
15 Aug 18:41
Rightward Shift on Supreme Court Would Imperil Freedoms, Panel Warns
To: National Desk, Political Reporter
Contact: Nancy Coleman of People for the American Way,
310-478-6657 or 202-215-1481 (cell)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The most important and
far-reaching issue in the upcoming presidential election is who the
next president will choose for the U.S. Supreme Court. That's because
the president that the American people pick in November is likely to
have the chance to pick as many as three Supreme Court Justices over
the next four years.
The candidates have made no secret of what kind of Justices they
see as the model they would follow in selecting their own nominees.
Vice President Al Gore has identified Justice Thurgood Marshall, who
championed individual and civil rights during his years on the Court,
as the sort of jurist he would look for. Governor George W. Bush, on
the other hand, has held up the current Court's two most right-wing
justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, as his ideal. The vast
gulf between the candidates' thinking on this critically important
issue, together with the narrow Court majority that is currently
protecting many fundamental rights, underscores how important it is
for Americans to look to the Court when they decide on a President.
The choices the next president makes will profoundly affect
fundamental rights and freedoms that Americans have come to take for
granted.
Just how drastic those changes would be and the consequences for
ordinary Americans was brought home by speaker after speaker at a
special issues forum this morning for elected officials and delegates
attending the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
Hosted by People for the American Way, the forum included speakers
from a wide array of perspectives, who all concurred that the Supreme
Court is the single most important issue before the voters this fall.
Speakers included Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Democratic
strategist and adviser James Carville, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume,
Sierra Club President Robert Cox, Voters for Choice Executive
Director Julie Burton, pollster Celinda Lake, and PFAW President
Ralph G. Neas.
"With so many important rights riding on just one or two votes and
so many Justices nearing retirement, it's no exaggeration to say that
the Supreme Court makes this the most important election in over half
a century," said Neas. "We are urging all Americans to look at this
issue carefully when they make their judgment in November about
who they want for President."
While there is no mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court
Justices, several factors lead many observers to indicate that we
should be expecting several retirements soon. Neas noted that it has
been six years since the most recent Court appointment and that only
once before in our nation's history has there been such a long
interval between Supreme Court nominations, and that ended 177 years
ago, when James Monroe was president. Four of the current justices
are between 67 and 80 and two more will turn 65 next year. So the
prospect of new right-wing appointments takes on particular urgency,
especially given the closely divided nature of the current court on
fundamental constitutional issues, Neas said.
The judicial philosophy of Scalia and Thomas, documented in their
long public record of dissenting and concurring opinions, makes it
clear that a Scalia-Thomas majority could overturn more than
100 precedents on reproductive choice, privacy, worker and consumer
rights, environmental protection and civil rights protections for
women, racial and religious minorities, gay men and lesbians, and
older Americans. A Supreme Court dominated by Scalia and Thomas
would make gun control, environmental protection, and campaign
finance reform much more difficult.
"Our nation's most fundamental definition of justice is hanging in
the balance this November," said Neas, "and we're working to make
sure that every American gets that message."
People for the American Way is carrying out an extensive campaign
to mobilize progressive voters around the threat to the future of the
Supreme Court. Detailed documentation on Scalia's and Thomas' records
on the bench is available at http://www.pfaw.org.
------
People for the American Way is a national advocacy organization
working to defend and protect Americans' constitutional liberties and
civil rights.
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
08/15 18:41
Copyright 2000, U.S. Newswire
------------------
"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside
the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." (Romans 13:12)
