Events
Federal Courts in Crisis:
On April 17, the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Committee for a Fair Judiciary discussed the process and politics of judicial confirmations, the impact of the judicial vacancies crisis, and solutions for 2012 and beyond.
Texas’s Judicial Emergencies and the Need for Senate Action
The Center for American Progress co-hosted an event last week on the judicial vacancies in Texas and the nation.
Why Courts Matter: Racial Profiling and the Arizona Immigration Law
April 4, 2012, 12:00pm – 1:30pm
On April 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguably the most important immigration case in a generation. In Arizona v. U.S. the Court will decide the constitutionality of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 and state-level anti-immigrant bills like it. S.B. 1070 makes it a crime to be without status, and authorizes the police to ask for “papers please” from anyone they have a reasonable suspicion of being in the country without legal status. At stake is not simply whether states can put into place their own punitive immigration laws, but whether all people are treated equally under one law, and whether states have the right to legalize discrimination and profiling.
Arizona’s “show me your papers” law undermines the basic notion of equality enshrined in the constitution. It encourages racial and ethnic profiling based on how people look or how they speak, and essentially legalizes harassment and discrimination. If the Court strikes down S.B. 1070, it sends a clear message that it is the federal government that is best suited to protect our civil rights. But if the Court upholds the law, it gives the green light to other states to pass their own harsh anti-immigrant laws, and could lead to a newly segregated United States, where some states are welcoming to immigrants and people of color, and others are not.
Please join the Center for American Progress’s Immigration and Legal Progress Teams for “Why Courts Matter: Racial Profiling and the Arizona Immigration Law.” We will highlight the role that the federal courts play in immigration policy, contextualize the Supreme Court’s hearing, and discuss the ramifications of the Court’s decision. This program is part of a series run by Legal Progress to highlight the important role that the judiciary plays in the lives of hardworking Americans, as well as in the success of the progressive legislative agenda. Legal Progress seeks to make the third branch of government better reflect the values of liberty, equality, and opportunity enshrined in the Constitution that have resulted in America’s progress since its founding.
A Conversation on Civil Rights in America with the Justice Department’s Tom Perez
November 16, 2011, 10:00am – 11:00am
Tom Perez is the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and a lifelong public servant. Currently, he directs the Department’s work to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society. The Civil Rights Division enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, disability, religion, familial status and national origin.
In this intimate conversation between Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, and Tom Perez on a wide array of civil rights issues, from voting rights, predatory lending and bullying to employment and disability discrimination – we will focus on some of our nation’s most pressing civil rights challenges.
We the People:
A panel from the American Idea Conference examines the idea that the core values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution are the same values that have made America exceptional since its founding.
Featured Content
Progressives Must Take Back Courts
Regardless of where you live, or what issues you care about, all Americans deserve a judiciary that works, writes Andrew Blotky.
Voter Suppression 101
Scott Keyes, Ian Millhiser, Tobin Van Ostern, and Abraham White expose the voter suppression efforts underway across the country.
Federal Judicial Emergencies
Andrew Blotky and April Carson on the state of judicial emergencies in the nation.
Americans Agree: Corporations Aren’t People:
Recent Legal Progress surveys on constitutional rights have found that concern over corporate favoritism continues to be a consistent concern among American voters across the political spectrum.
Making the Court a Priority for Progressives :
Andrew Blotky argues in The Huffington Post that it's time for progressives to unite and support getting more progressive judges on the federal bench.
Civil Rights, Liberties, and Justice:
It is time for Senate Republicans to take up the business of the nation's courts and address the nearly 200 million Americans living in jurisdictions with courts unable to function as designed.
Federal Judicial Emergencies: Andrew Blotky and April Carson on the state of judicial emergencies in the nation.
Civil Rights, Liberties, and Justice: It is time for the Senate to do what the Constitution commands—advise and consent to the nomination of qualified judges, write Andrew Blotky and Doug Kendall.
The Fake James Madison: Ian Millhiser explains how conservatives' calls to end programs such as Social Security and Medicare stem from misinterpretation of the Constitution.
Clearly Constitutional: Ian Millhiser explains how the new health care reform law fits within the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.
Civil Rights, Liberties, and Justice: Ian Millhiser examines the growing movement on the American right that believes that nearly 100 years' worth of major legislation violates the Constitution, and what this means for future judicial opinions.
Civil Rights, Liberties, and Justice: Ian Millhiser writes that the Senate's vote on Liu sends a clear message to any of the nation's brightest constitutional thinkers who hope to someday be able to serve on the federal bench: stop talking.
