Top Features
How to Close Guantanamo
Ken Gude outlines a five phase plan for closing Guantánamo safely and in a way that reinforces American values and the rule of law.
The ID Divide
Report from Peter Swire and Cassandra Butts addresses the challenges of identification and authentication in American society.Other Civil Rights, Liberties, and Justice Features
July 1, 2009
Poverty in the LGBT Community
The expansion of civil rights and protections for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people will promote social equality and economic prosperity.
June 24, 2009
Ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Practical steps to repeal the ban on openly gay men and women in the U.S. military from Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan, and Laura Conley.
June 22, 2009
Ask the Expert: Putting an End to "Don't Ask Don't Tell"
Lawrence J. Korb discusses why President Obama and Congress need to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and how they can accomplish it successfully.
June 17, 2009
Moving Toward Equality for Federal Employees
Statement from Winnie Stachelberg applauds the Obama administration's first steps on domestic partner benefits and offers suggestions on ways forward.
June 8, 2009
Religious Voices Are Critical for the Advancement of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equality
Last week CAP and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force released two groundbreaking reports on marriage-equality ballot initiatives in California and Michigan.
June 4, 2009
The Faithful Divide Over Wedding Vows
A report by Jonathan Duffy and Sally Steenland explores the strategies for Proposal 2 in Michigan, a state constitutional amendment that prohibited same-sex marriage.
May 29, 2009
Obama's Right to Detain
Civil rights groups say the United States must charge or release Guantánamo detainees. But Obama has a third choice, explains Ken Gude.
May 26, 2009
Sonia Sotomayor: A Quality Nomination
The first Hispanic nominee to the Supreme Court can deliver on President Obama’s promise to bring more diversity and excellence to the high court, writes Vanessa Cardenas.
May 26, 2009
California Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 8
Winnie Stachelberg weighs in on the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ballot initiative, which bans same-sex unions in the state.
May 14, 2009
Torture or Not, It’s Illegal and Wrong
Debating whether harsh interrogation tactics used by the United States were torture or not misses the point that they're still illegal, writes William F. Schulz.
May 5, 2009
Supreme Court Rules that Immigrants Have Rights, Too
An identity theft law inappropriately used to punish immigrants is removed from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement arsenal, writes Henry Fernandez.
May 4, 2009
Obama Can't Turn the Page on Torture
We need a non-partisan investigation into America's use of torture. Otherwise, it will continue to haunt us, writes Ken Gude on The Guardian's "Comment Is Free" blog.
April 28, 2009
Standing Together Against Hate
Lawmakers are finally poised to stand by the GLBT community this week by passing legislation to add sexual orientation to hate crime protections, write Mark Shields and Winnie Stachelberg.
April 28, 2009
Bush Administration Got the Guantanamo it Wanted
Ken Gude writes about Karen Greenberg's The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days for the TPMCafe Book Club.
April 17, 2009
Obama Shows Leadership on Torture Memos
Yesterday President Obama exercised good judgment and responsible leadership when he released Bush-era memos providing legal justification for certain types of torture, writes Ken Gude.
April 14, 2009
Four Things You Didn’t Know About God and Same-Sex Marriage
Christians who oppose same-sex marriage say it goes against the biblical conception of marriage and sexuality, but they're wrong.
March 26, 2009
Steps Toward Equality
John Berry's confirmation for director of the Office of Personnel Management could lead to a more open and tolerant federal workplace, write Winnie Stachelberg and Josh Rosenthal.
March 26, 2009
Keeping Americans Safe from Faulty Medical Devices
A panel of experts joins CAP to discuss the short documentary “Hit and Run” and the issue of preemption in protecting consumers from unsafe drugs and medical devices.
March 14, 2009
'Enemy combatants' no more
Late Friday, the Obama administration took another step toward following through on its intention to significantly change US detention policy by dropping the Bush administration's favoured description of the Guantánamo detainees as "enemy combatants". What follows in a filing in US district court, however, is disappointingly similar to the Bush administration's assertion of detention authority.
March 6, 2009
Weekly Round Up: March 2 - 6, 2009
CAP provided analysis of equal rights events this week, produced an interactive map of air strikes in Pakistan, and continued its analysis of the recession.
March 3, 2009
Expressing Faith Through Marriage Equality
Progressive religious leaders should be a strong voice in the fight for marriage equality, writes Sarah Dreier. Opportunities to do so abound this week.
March 3, 2009
Benefits Denied
After paying into the system their whole lives, married same-sex couples will be denied thousands of dollars in Social Security benefits, write Ben Furnas and Josh Rosenthal.
March 2, 2009
The Costs of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
The military’s outdated policy excludes qualified service members and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, while public opinion now supports repealing the policy.
February 26, 2009
Think Again: Thank God for Gitmo!
The punditocracy's attacks on Obama for the decision to close Guantanamo deserve close scrutiny, write Eric Alterman and Danielle Ivory.
February 24, 2009
Ask the Expert: Three Types of Challenges at Guantánamo
Ken Gude discusses the hurdles that the Obama administration will face as it move along the process of closing Guantánamo by January 2010.
February 5, 2009
Guantánamo's Secrets
The United States' hostility toward publishing details of Binyam Mohamed's treatment suggests that the stakes are higher than we may realize.
January 22, 2009
Closing Guantanamo, Restoring American Values
President Obama’s decision to close Guantanamo and the secret CIA prisons shows the world the the United States is back and ready to lead.
January 16, 2009
The State of Minorities: The Recession Issue
The recession has hit minorities especially hard, write Amanda Logan and Christian Weller.
January 13, 2009
The First Step Toward Closing Guantánamo
Announcing the closure of Guantánamo and establishing a process to empty the prison is just a first step, but it's the right first step, writes Ken Gude.
January 12, 2009
Gitmo: No More
By ordering the closure of Guantanamo as one of his first acts, Obama will show leadership and signal real change.
January 6, 2009
Closing Guantánamo 101
Why we need to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay and six steps to get there.
December 9, 2008
Equal Benefits for Women
The Supreme Court this week will hear arguments on whether women should retroactively receive retirement benefits for pregnancy leave, write Alexandra Cawthorne and Stephanie Gross.
December 8, 2008
Stop this Fiasco
Ken Gude on why the U.S. secretary of defesce must close down the Guantánamo military commissions before any more damage is done.
December 1, 2008
Scholars’ Statement of Principles for the New President on U.S. Detention Policy
A statement from several prominent scholars on principles for the new president and Congress on U.S. detention policies.
November 24, 2008
“Milk” Celebrates Life of Gay Activist
Harvey Milk's fight resonates today as gay activists fight against the passage of Proposition 8 in California.
October 7, 2008
Prisoners of Cowardice
Yesterday's ruling by a U.S. District Court judge in Washington ordering 17 Uighurs released into the United States on Friday brings us one step closer to righting one of the most egregious wrongs in the catalogue of injustices at Guantanamo. As long ago as 2003, the U.S. government accepted the plain truth that these detainees are not enemies of the United States, but they have remained prisoners of cowardice, locked up for years because the Bush administration lacked the courage to bring this tragedy to an end.
September 23, 2008
One Simple Step for Equality
States prove that the federal government can offer domestic partner benefits with ease, write Winnie Stachelberg, Josh Rosenthal, and Claire Stein-Ross.
September 16, 2008
Recommitting to the Rule of Law
CAPAF's Mark Agrast testifies to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution about how to restore the rule of law after eight years of the Bush administration.
September 16, 2008
Too Much Secrecy Puts Our Nation at Risk
CAPAF's John D. Podesta outlines to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution key recommendations for restoring the rule of law.
August 20, 2008
Victory in California
California Supreme Court rules doctors cannot discriminate against gays and lesbians in providing services.
August 4, 2008
Have We Come a Long Way Baby?
Forty-five years after John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, women still lag behind men in wages earned.
July 9, 2008
Racial Profiling and Genetic Privacy
Report examines the question of how we reconcile our desire for excellent police work with maintaining criminal investigation protocols that respect the rights of citizens.
July 8, 2008
Killing Itself for the Right to Discriminate
The Boy Scouts' wrong-headed and relentless fight to keep gays out of scouting has devastated the once-inspiring organization, writes Henry Fernandez.
June 25, 2008
Five Steps to Close Guantanamo
After more than six years of constant controversy, it really does look as if Guantánamo's days as a prison camp are numbered. The Supreme Court's recent decision in Boumediene v Bush further narrowed any legal distinction between holding the detainees at Guantánamo or within the territorial boundaries of the United States. That—combined with both presidential candidates' pledge to close Guantánamo—means we can now definitively say we have reached the beginning of the end.
June 25, 2008
A Return to Fairness
Ken Gude on what the Supreme Court's recent decision means for detainees at Guantánamo, whether this means more lenient treatment for terrorists, and what we still need to do to restore the rule of law.
June 20, 2008
Unwarranted: New Domestic Spying Legislation Fails to Restore Judicial Safeguards
Congressional compromise will lead to the enactment of a flawed bill that fails to protect American liberties, writes Mark Agrast.
June 18, 2008
La Guerra de los “IDs”: ¿Cuenta Usted con el Suyo?
Los proponentes de REAL ID y de otras legislaciones similares a nivel local buscan establecer sistemas de identificación más estrictos, principalmente para luchar contra el terrorismo y limitar la inmigración. Hay otros que desconfían de programas que requieren comprobantes de identificación por motivos de seguridad, privacidad y de libertades civiles. Unos 20 millones de ciudadanos con edad para votar en nuestro país en los actuales momentos no cuentan con licencias para conducir. Y las minorías se encuentran en especial riesgo de ser despojados de sus derechos mediante estas propuestas.
June 18, 2008
Protecting Personal Information: Is the Federal Government Doing Enough?
Peter Swire testifies to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on how the government can best protect personal information.
June 18, 2008
The ID War: Do You Have Yours?
We need to make sure that we establish due diligence when creating ID laws so that all people are treated fairly and equally, writes Vanessa Cárdenas. Léalo en español
June 12, 2008
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