Updated: July 3, 2008
ACTION: AAUW has long supported flexible workplace policies to address the family responsibilities of employees. AAUW will continue to work to advance policies that will improve workplaces for employees with family responsibilities of all kinds. If you haven’t yet done so, use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge your representative to support the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 1542), which would provide full-time employees with seven paid sick days a year to be used for their own medical needs or to tend to the medical needs of a child, spouse or parent. Then, take another minute to urge your senators to support the Family Leave Insurance Act (S. 1681), which will provide up to eight weeks of paid leave to workers needing time off due to the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a child, spouse or parent with a serious illness, or to care for their own serious illness. For more on the FMLA, read AAUW’s position paper on family friendly workplaces and visit the new FMLA section of AAUW’s Legal Advocacy Fund Resource Library for information, frequently asked questions, statistics, and resources.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for June 28, 2008.
The Senate confirmed five nominees for lifetime appointments to the federal bench this week. On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed (63-32) Helene White (a previous Clinton nominee) and Raymond Kethledge for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as Stephen Murphy for the Eastern District of Michigan. On Thursday, the Senate also confirmed two circuit court judges, G. Murray Snow for the District of Arizona and William T. Lawrence for the Southern District of Indiana. Following the July 4 recess, the Senate may take up four district court confirmations for vacancies in New York. The confirmation of the five judges this week brings federal court vacancies to 4.5 percent, down from 9.9 percent when the Bush administration took office, according to a statement by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
AAUW monitors the judicial nominations process because so many of our fundamental rights and liberties have been established and are protected by the federal courts. The confirmation of extremist, activist judges to the federal bench undermines a fair, balanced, and independent judiciary and could turn back the clock on decades of progress for women and girls. For more information, read AAUW’s position paper on federal judicial nominations.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for June 28, 2008.
The U.S. Supreme Court will take up an appeals case examining the First Circuit's decision in the Massachusetts case of Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee. At issue is whether Title IX provides the only legal remedy for cases of sex discrimination in public schools. The First Circuit ruled that the school district met its obligation under Title IX to avoid "deliberate indifference" to the student's sexual harassment situation once the harassment became known to appropriate officials. The First Circuit also refused to hear the plaintiffs' constitutional claims filed under the remedial statute, known as Section 1983, holding that Title IX protections preempt additional, constitutional claims. The plaintiffs filed a petition for Supreme Court review, which the Court granted last week. The Sixth, Eighth, and Tenth Circuits Courts all allow plaintiffs to bring both Title IX and Section 1983/constitutional claims for the same conduct. The circuit split was likely a key factor in the Court's decision to review the case. Read AAUW’s position paper on Title IX and sexual harassment.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for June 20, 2008.
The Senate confirmed three nominees for lifetime appointments to the Federal bench on Tuesday. According to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy’s (D-VT) website, the confirmation of Mark Davis for the Eastern District of Viginia, Stephen Limbaugh for the Eastern District of Missouri, and David Gregory Kays for the Western District of Missouri on Tuesday brings the vacancy rate on the Federal bench to the lowest in over a decade. The Senate Judiciary Committee also reported to the Senate three nominations for such appointments on Thursday. Judge Helene White (a previous Clinton nominee) and Raymond Kethledge are nominees to fill the final two vacancies on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, while Stephen Murphy is being nominated for the Eastern District of Michigan. On Wednesday, the committee held nomination hearings to fill district vacancies in New York.
Senate Republicans last week used procedural maneuvers to protest the pace of appellate court nominations, which they believe has been too slow. CQ reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) forced bill clerks to spend several hours last Wednesday reading aloud a substitute amendment, tying up the Senate well into the night. According to the Alliance for Justice, President Bush has appointed more than 30 percent of the federal judiciary, including nearly 300 judges to the federal courts, 57 court of appeals judges, and two Supreme Court justices.
AAUW monitors the judicial nominations process because so many of our fundamental rights and liberties have been established and are protected by the federal courts. The confirmation of extremist, activist judges to the federal bench undermines a fair, balanced, and independent judiciary and could turn back the clock on decades of progress for women and girls. For more information, read AAUW’s position paper on federal judicial nominations.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for June 13, 2008.
The Supreme Court gave us a narrow 5-4 victory for habeas corpus over the Bush administration in Boumediene v. Bush. People For the American Way Foundation filed an amicus brief in the case, and because you've stood with us in the fight to save habeas and other fundamental civil liberties, I thought you'd be interested in the statement I sent to the press:
"The Supreme Court has rebuked President Bush's vision of the presidency as an office of limitless power, and declared that the president of a free nation cannot simply lock people up and throw away the key like some third-world dictator. This is a stinging blow to the administration's lawless policies and its allies in Congress.
"It's chilling that the case was decided on a single vote, 5-4. One more Bush Justice on the Court, and the decision would likely have gone the other way. That's why it's so important for Americans to realize that in this election year, the Supreme Court is on the ballot. John McCain has already promised the GOP that he would nominate Justices to the Court exactly like those Bush has brought to the bench. This year, we must reverse the tide, and begin to restore a Supreme Court that upholds our individual rights and the laws that keep us free."
Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia both offered their own frightening dissents, also joining each other’s along with Justices Alito and Thomas. If there was just one more Justice on the Court in the mold of these conservative Justices, the fate of this fundamental constitutional right would have been decided very differently. Habeas corpus was on the line today -- but tomorrow it will be free speech, religious liberty, reproductive rights, equality for all, voting rights -- every essential right that's a part of the American way. That's what's at stake with the Supreme Court on the ballot this November.
- from a People For the American Way e-Alert for June 12, 2008
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with workers’ rights to sue when they face retaliation after complaining about discrimination in the workplace, the Associated Press reported. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled in favor of Myrna Gomez- Perez in Gomez-Perez v. Potter, allowing her to pursue her legal complaints against the U.S. Postal Service and Postmaster General Potter for retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. In writing for the majority, Justice Alito found that the ADEA barred acts of retaliation against both federal and private sector employees, despite only mentioning employees in the private sector. The Court also ruled 7-2 in a similar retaliation case involving race discrimination. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented in both cases. Justice Alito, who wrote the opinion against Lilly Ledbetter in the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case was on the majority in both of these cases. As part of the decision on Tuesday, Justice Alito found that the precedent of Roderick Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education (2005) applied. In that case, Jackson alleged his termination was an act of retaliation after requesting additional funding for his high school girls basketball team, and he petitioned that retaliation was an element included in Title IX. The Court agreed, calling retaliation another form of intentional, unlawful discrimination under Title IX. Keeping that logic in mind, Justice Alito found that if the Court could find that retaliation was included within Title IX, reprisals could also be included in ADEA despite specific language.
AAUW strives to ensure that sex and age discrimination do not continue in the workplace through cases like Mr. Jackson’s, an AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund petitioner. AAUW and the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund also signed on to an amicus brief in the Jackson case.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for May 30, 2008.
Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to bring three circuit court nominees to the floor before the Memorial Day recess, Roll Call reported. However, Republican Senators say that Democrats will still fall short of the average number of nominees advanced by a Congress during the final two years of the term of a president from the minority party. While the Senate has confirmed seven federal judges since January 2007, the average number is 15. GOP leaders have begun an “education and outreach effort” around the issue, with senators making floor speeches highlighting nominees from their home states.
AAUW monitors the judicial nominations process because so many of our fundamental rights and liberties have been established and are protected by the federal courts. The confirmation of extremist, activist judges to the federal bench undermines a fair, balanced, and independent judiciary and could turn back the clock on decades of progress for women and girls.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for May 16, 2008.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing on Thursday for three judicial nominations, including a nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Court. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) also announced that the committee will hold a confirmation hearing on May 7 for Helene White and Raymond Kethledge, nominees to the 6th Circuit Appeals Court. As reported in the April 25 edition of Washington Update, Helene White was a former Clinton nominee who was re-nominated last week when the White House withdrew the nomination of Steven Joseph Murphy.
According to the Alliance for Justice, President Bush has appointed more than 30 percent of the federal judiciary, including nearly 300 judges to the federal courts, 57 court of appeals judges, and two Supreme Court justices.
AAUW monitors the judicial nominations process because so many of our fundamental rights and liberties have been established and are protected by the federal courts. The confirmation of extremist, activist judges to the federal bench undermines a fair, balanced, and independent judiciary and could turn back the clock on decades of progress for women and girls. For more information, read AAUW’s position paper on federal judicial nominations.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for May 2, 2008.
According to Congressional Quarterly, the war over Senate confirmation of judicial nominations is heating up. While Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans contend that their Democratic counterparts are holding up appellate court nominations, many Democrats are faulting the Republicans for trying to pressure the committee to speed up consideration of President Bush’s judicial nominations as a way of leaving the administration’s legacy come January. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has also mentioned invoking the “Thurmond rule,” a longstanding Senate practice whereby only non-controversial judicial nominations with the support of Senate leaders and top Judiciary committee members advance in the months preceding a presidential election. According to the Alliance for Justice, President Bush has appointed nearly 300 judges to the federal courts, including 57 court of appeals judges and two Supreme Court justices.
AAUW monitors the judicial nominations process because so many of our fundamental rights and liberties have been established and are protected by the federal courts. The confirmation of extremist, activist judges to the federal bench undermines a fair, balanced, and independent judiciary and could turn back the clock on decades of progress for women and girls. For more information, read AAUW’s position paper on federal judicial nominations.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for April 4, 2008.
According to the New York Times, the U.S Supreme Court last week ruled in a job-related age discrimination case in a very different manner than it had previously done so in the pay discrimination Ledbetter v. Goodyear case. In the recent ruling, the court upheld an appellate court ruling in finding that the failure to file the proper form with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the allotted time frame does not deprive an employee of the ability to later go to court with an age discrimination lawsuit. In the 7-2 decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority saying, “The system must be accessible to individuals who have no detailed knowledge of the relevant statutory mechanisms and agency process.” The majority also stressed that workers who were not represented by lawyers and who could make a layman’s mistake should not be denied their day in court. In addition to Justice Kennedy, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito joined with the rest of the supporters of Ledbetter-Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens, and David Souder, and Stephen Breyer-in the majority on this case. Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia were the dissenters.
As women are now staying in the workforce longer, they are more likely to be the victims of age discrimination. They are also likely to begin experiencing age discrimination at an earlier age than men. Legal Momentum, a legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the rights of women and girls, annually reviews the Supreme Court’s docket for cases that could impact women. At their Supreme Court press briefing last fall, the age discrimination case was one that they highlighted.
ACTION: AAUW believes the outcome in the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case is fundamentally unfair to victims of pay discrimination, which is responsible for a significant portion of the wage gap experienced by women and people of color. Although the wage gap has narrowed over the years, success in closing the gap remains elusive, and the Supreme Court's recent decision in the Ledbetter case will only make it more difficult. Even if you have done so previously, please use AAUW’s Two-Minute Activist online to urge your senators to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S.1843).
- from AAUW's Washington Update for March 7, 2008.