Mon. – 5/7: Our judges are the last barrier we have against injustice. Tell your senator that this matters to you.

#1 – Protest the End of the “Blue Slip” Process.

Trump is packing the courts with anti-labor, anti-women’s rights, anti-workers’ rights, anti-civil rights and anti-LGBTQ rights, right-wing judges. This week Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley aim to confirm multiple federal judges as quickly as possible. They have set up a week of votes and hearings starting May 7.

To speed the process, Grassley has abandoned the “blue slip” process whereby a Senator from a nominee’s state may block an appointment. The Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, strongly opposed this move in the case of Seventh Circuit nominee Michael Brennan, which is being pushed forward over the objection of his home-state senator Tammy Baldwin. Feinstein has noted that if Brennan is confirmed it would be the first time in more than 30 years that a circuit court nominee was confirmed over a home-state senator’s objections. Brennan’s is one of six circuit court nominations that could be voted on during the week. Meanwhile, there are reports that a hearing will be held Wednesday for Ninth Circuit (which includes California) nominee Ryan Bounds of Oregon, for whom neither Oregon senator has returned a blue slip signaling approval for the process to advance. This action on Bounds is “an unprecedented affront to the advise-and-consent role of senators”; no circuit court nominee has ever been confirmed over objections of both home-state senators.

Minimum Script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Senator Feinstein to voice my outrage that Senators Grassley and McConnell are destroying the time-honored blue slip system. Continue reading “Mon. – 5/7: Our judges are the last barrier we have against injustice. Tell your senator that this matters to you.” →

Monday 3/26 – “This is the use of religion to hurt people because you disapprove of who they are.” Deadline to comment tomorrow!

Quote from Harper Jean Tobin of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

You are sitting in one of those horrible backless gowns on a paper-covered table, waiting…

You are sick, or hurt, or need a legal medical procedure. This is not where you want to be right now, but you need help.

If you can’t imagine for yourself, do so for your child, or grandchild…

The door opens. A scrubs-covered medical professional comes in, reading a file.

A moment of silence.

“Treating you would violate my sincerely-held religious beliefs. You’ll have to wait until we can find someone else to deal with you.”

Door closes.

A new HHS rule would allow physicians and health care workers to opt out of procedures that conflict with their religious teachings…We need to send in comments today and tomorrow to stop this.

You do not need to be a woman to feel the importance of this.
You do not need to be part of the LGBTQ community.
You just need to do what we say we do.
Stand INDIVISIBLE with vulnerable Americans, who are, even now, being traumatized by these types of behavior. This proposal just lets offenders off without consequences.

We really like this gif-filled explanation guide from the National Women’s Law Center. Lots of information in here to use in your comments.

1. This rule is definitely NOT about patients.

Continue reading “Monday 3/26 – “This is the use of religion to hurt people because you disapprove of who they are.” Deadline to comment tomorrow!” →

Friday 3/16 – A walk down 3 dark alleys…

Action #1 – “This is the use of religion to hurt people because you disapprove of who they are.”

– Harper Jean Tobin of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Part 1 – Written comments – Comments Due March 27th
Public comments are due on March 27th regarding these new HHS rules that would allow physicians and health care workers to opt out of procedures that conflict with their religious teachings. This will have a significant impact on women’s and LGBTQ rights, which are already not fully protected by the current system. In fact, according to the Center for American Progress, 29% of transgender people reported that “a doctor or other health care provider refused to see them because of their actual or perceived gender identity.” We can submit our public comments here (DUE MARCH 27).

Part 2 – Contact your legislators

Stop this hard-right religious bullying now. Make sure your legislators are co-sponsoring The Equality Act, H.R.2282/S. 1006, which amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect against discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep./Sen. to support {Rep.- H.R. 2282/Sen. – S. 1006} the Equality Act. (Click on the links to see how your legislator voted.
Thank Rep. Brownley and Sens. Feinstein and Harris for their support.)

Legislator Contact Info. Continue reading “Friday 3/16 – A walk down 3 dark alleys…” →

Friday 2/9 – Bad Judges

Vote “NO” on Howard Neilson

Why this video?

We do not always agree with Senator McCain, but we do when he’s talking about torture and those behind the scenes that allowed it to happen on American soil and in our name. Our next nominee falls in that category.

Howard Nielson, who is is being considered for a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, has a long history of opposing LGBT civil rights, advocating for Proposition 8 (“Prop 8”), the infamous CA voter initiative that restricted marriage to opposite-sex couples.

He is also implicated in torture issues.

While Neilson was working as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) from 2003 to 2005, he gave “input” and “participated” in “the review process” of the now infamous torture memos, created by then-heads of the OLC Stephen Bradbury and Daniel Levin. These memos authorized enhanced interrogation techniques,” waterboarding, and other forms of torture and human rights abuses, which were ultimately revoked in 2009.

Though now he states that he believes waterboarding to be illegal (not “wrong” or “immoral”), Nielson co-wrote a letter to the editor criticizing an editorial of his former boss as “unfair” and specifically praising Bradbury as a “careful lawyer” with “unimpeachable integrity” and “sound judgment.”

Let’s practice our own sound judgement and tell our Senators that we do not want Nielson to be confirmed.

Vote “NO” on Kyle Duncan

Continue reading “Friday 2/9 – Bad Judges” →