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BREAKING NEWS! AFJAC's Simon Heller Op. Ed. in the Virginian-Pilot...
At least since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the far right in American politics has made changing the courts - starting with the Supreme Court - a top priority on its agenda. The goals have been clear: to roll back legal protections for ordinary Americans and issue rulings that favor big business; to hamper organized labor to the advantage of corporations; to fight against environmental protection laws; to breach the separation of church and state; to erode the hard-won constitutional rights of women, people of color, and the disempowered; and to reverse rights of criminal defendants - among others.
Although some Supreme Court Justices (like Justice O'Connor and Souter) may have disappointed the Presidents who appointed them because they asserted their independence once on the Court, others have not. The addition of ultraconservative Chief Justice Roberts in 2005 and Justice Alito in 2006 has made the Court more conservative than ever, and the Roberts Court has already reversed and undermined precedent in areas that include sex discrimination in the workplace, reproductive rights, and separation of church and state. Next year, the Court may make further inroads as it considers whether there is a constitutional right to own handguns and whether states can require voters to prove their identity with government-issued ID cards.
The impact of the far-right's strategy is also evident on the lower federal courts, particularly the courts of appeals, which are almost always the courts of last resort for most people. These courts have tilted further and further to the right, with the vast majority now dominated by judges appointed by Presidents bent on re-shaping the judiciary to promote a right-wing agenda for generations to come.
It is time for the American people to take action to re-claim their courts, and demand the appointment of fair-minded judges dedicated to equal justice for all. It is also time to demand that the Senate stand up to a President whose goal is to use the courts as a vehicle to advance an ultra-conservative agenda at the expense of American values of equality and justice. Alliance for Justice Action Campaign stands ready to lead this fight and to provide the resources and information Americans need to achieve this objective. We hope you will join us in this important work.
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