#LCCHR

[rpbp]

Gotta love it when folks cover the courts—and all the more when there's good news to highlight!

The confirmation of Nancy Ab[u]du to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the southeast and was drastically reshaped by Trump, made her the first Black woman confirmed to that appeals court. When Abudu, an alum of the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center who litigated key voting rights cases, secured Senate approval in mid-May, it was seen as the “tip of the spear” of the current wave, Zwarensteyn said. “It’s not just the question of the jurisdiction for a district court judge or the states that the circuit covers for a circuit court judge,” said Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, a counsel for the left-leaning court advocacy group Counsel at the Alliance for Justice. “But it’s the law that they’re making and how other courts may be influenced by it.”

[autisticadvocacy]

ASAN joins with other members of the LCCHR to condemn the recent Supreme Court decision which fails to recognize Congress’ authority to allow the Secretary of Education to waive student loan debt in an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. 

[ifucankeepit]

Vanita Gupta - InfluenceWatch - InfluenceWatch

[i-hate-chase-from-paw-patrol]

How You Can Help

Here is your reminder of the day to donate, stream, and sign petitions!

STREAM TO DONATE (all ad revenue on these videos get donated):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCgLa25fDHM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HTgJzZAYnE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifpS6vvNO3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slbNdBuQzKw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Xe8N0FNTs

SIGN PETITIONS:

George Floyd - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/peti... 

 Raise The Degree - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/peti... 

 Arrest All Four - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/peti... 

 Raise The Degree - https://www.change.org/p/minneapolis-... 

 George Floyd - https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-... 

 George Floyd - https://t.co/ENgYhM2oEC 

 George Floyd - https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/ju... 

 Get The Officers Charged - https://t.co/lPsRQq6GqD 

 Charge All Four Officers https://www.change.org/p/change-org-t... 

 Breonna Taylor - https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/jus... 

 Breonna Taylor - https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/ju... 

 Ahmaud Arbery - https://www.change.org/p/federal-bure... 

 Ahmaud Arbery - https://www.change.org/p/human-rights... 

 Pass The Georgia Hate Crime Bill https://www.change.org/p/governor-bri... Defund MPD https://secure.everyaction.com/eR7GA7... 

 Life Sentence For Police Brutality https://www.change.org/p/department-o...

Life Sentence for Police Brutality https://www.change.org/p/department-o...

Regis Korchinski - https://t.co/fqxvTJ76gE 

 Tony McDade - https://www.change.org/p/black-lives-... 

 João Pedro - http://chng.it/FjJ7ZD4q5p 

 Julius Jones - https://www.change.org/p/julius-jones... 

 Belly Mujinga - https://www.change.org/p/govia-thames... 

 Willie Simmons - https://www.change.org/p/alabama-gove... 

 Hands Up Act - https://www.change.org/p/us-senate-ha... 

 National Action Against Police Brutality https://www.change.org/p/national-act... 

 Kyjuanzi Harris -https://www.change.org/p/illinois-gov... 

 Alejandro Vargas Martinez - https://www.change.org/p/florida-poli...

Censorship Of Police Brutality In France https://www.change.org/p/gouvernement...

DONATE:

NAACP https://secure.actblue.com/donate/naacp-1

Black Lives Matter https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Southern Poverty Law Center https://donate.splcenter.org/

Campaign Zero https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ZHQKRGV7JHCWC&source=url

Alliance for Justice https://afj.salsalabs.org/donate/index.html

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lcchr

National Urban League https://nul.org/donate

The Bail Project https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project

National Bail Fund Network https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bailfundscovid

Act Blue https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd?refcode=cwg

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law https://lawyerscommittee.org/make-a-donation/

NAACP Legal Defense Fund https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6857/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=15780&_ga=2.54139048.1253489539.1591048262-962604652.1591048262

ACLU https://action.aclu.org/give/now?ms_aff=NAT&initms_aff=NAT&ms=web_horiz_nav_hp&initms=web_horiz_nav_hp&ms_chan=web&initms_chan=web

LGBTQ Freedom Fund https://www.lgbtqfund.org/donate-1

PROTEST:

Cover distinguishing features, tattoos, and as much skin as possible to not get identified and to protect from tear gas

Flush out tear gas with water, not milk

Non-black protesters, especially the white ones: Use your privilege to protect the black protesters. Watch out when you see cops near them, protect them with your bodies, don’t escalate situations

Wear masks! Protect yourself from both tear gas and Coronavirus

Don’t protest if someone in your household is at risk. Protect who you can, take action in other ways if you need to

Write the phone numbers of local lawyers on your skin in permanent ink in case you get arrested

Know your rights. If you are detained, make sure you explicitly invoke your right to remain silent and your right to a lawyer. Do not say anything except this until you speak to your lawyer, except making sure you are in police custody. You can be taken in but not in official custody, and they can use this against you

Don’t take pictures. These can be used to identify other protesters and get them arrested

Let people know where you are while protesting in case something happens and you need to be found. Tell someone you trust which protest you’re going to and how long you expect to be out

Don’t throw bricks. Those are planted by the cops to try to get protesters to become violent

Watch out for undercover cops. They’ve been seen wearing colored bands on their arms so they can identify each other. The colors change daily

Be careful.

STAY INFORMED:

This is very important. Keep learning about what is happening and what you can do. Time doesn’t freeze. New information is being released all the time. Try your best to do your part. It’s everybody’s responsibility to help.

I’ll give you permission to kill Chase, but don’t attack anyone else unless necessary. 

[opedguy]

Civil Rights Groups Oppose Amy Coney Barrett

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Oct. 6, 2020.-- In no big surprise, 150 civil and human rights groups, as represented by the  Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights [LCCHR], expressed strong opposition to 74-year-old, Covid-19 stricken President Donald Trump’s pick to replace the late Associate Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.  Writing a 16-page letter opposing Barrett’s appointment, LCCHR itemized Barrett’s ruling against heath care access, reproductive right, LBGTQ rights, victims of employment discrimination, victims of sexual assault and gun control.  Liberal groups of course don’t like the rulings of conservative judges, preferring Justices like the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg that championed the cause of women, minority and gender rights.  If candidates don’t fit into a liberal agenda, they don’t won’t them on the Supreme Court or even the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

 Barrett said in 2017 that former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act was not constitutional, agreeing with Trump who signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Dec. 22, 2017 removing Obama’s individual mandate, requiring all taxpayers to show proof of insurance or pay an IRS penalty.  Obama thought when he signed the Affordable Care Act [ACA] March 23, 2010 that there was nothing wrong with demanding all American buy health insurance, insisting the ACA required all Americans to chip in or the government plan wouldn’t work.  Groups like LCCHR oppose anyone that doesn’t give preferential treatment to the causes they represent.  LCCHR said Barret signed a letter in 2006 calling for an end to legalized abortion in Indiana.  It’s true that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, something highly unlikely since it’s regarded as legal precedent, states like Indiana could make abortion illegal.      

       Barrett has never said that if she were confirmed by the Senate she’d work to end Roe v. Wade.  Liberal groups believe in a women’s right to choose under any circumstances involving her own body, including ending a newborn’s life after birth. If Barrett thinks there should be time limits on abortion, that’s her right as a conservative jurist.  Much of the opposition to Barrett stems from the LBGTQ community that sees Barrett criticizing the June 26, 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling mandating same-sex marriage on a federal level. “So I think Obergefell, and what we’re talking about for the future of the court, it’s really a who decides question,” said LCCHR, opposing Barrett’s Supreme Court appointment.  Barrett ruled against the Equal Opportunity Commission v. AutoZone for a black worker that fought against a transfer by management to a store in an African American neighborhood.     

        One of the most peculiar complaints from liberal groups against Barrett came from Doe v. Purdue University in which Barrett ruled to allowed a former student accused of sexual assault to proceed with a Title IX suit alleging discrimination.  You’d think liberal groups would defend an accused man’s right to defend his civil liberties under Title IX..  Liberal groups opposed to Barrett would spend their time more wisely opposing her involvement in People of Praise, a cult-like Christian group with nearly 1,800  members, marrying Pentecostalism with Catholicism.  Asking Barrett at her confirmation hearing whether or not she speaks in tongues would go a long way in developing opposition to her Supreme Court appointment.  Arguing that Barrett isn’t fit for the court because she’s not a liberal justice is not a valid.  Talking about her loyalty to a religious cult is different. 

Barrett’s detractors hope that enough U.S. Senators on the Judiciary Committee have Covid-19, preventing the hearing from proceeding.  But like other hearings in the age of Covid-19, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will proceed with Barrett’s hearing on Oct. 12.   “The undersigned organizations urge the Senate to oppose the confirmation of Judge Barrett and allow the president duly chose in the 2020 general election to fill the existing Supreme Court vacancy,” wrote LCCHR, American Federation of Teachers, Human Rights Campaign, NAACP and NARAL, Pro-Choice America Liberal opposition to Barrett isn’t enough to change anyone’s minds on the Senate Judiciary Committee or on the Senate floor.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reneged on what he did with Obama’s pick in 2016        

     When it came to McConnell holding back on Obama’s pick in 2016, it had to do with the fact that Republicans controlled the Senate . If Trump loses Nov. 3 and Democrat control the Senate in 2024, they’d 100% confirm their own justice.  Democrats look poised to win the White House Nov. 3 and possibly take back the Senate.  When it comes to Amy Coney Barrett, McConnell and Graham will do everything possible to confirm her before the Nov. 3 election or shortly after.  Knowing what’s brewing in the 2020 election, McConnell and Graham are determined to get Barrett on the court.  Once Trump got Covid-19, it was a tipping point toward Biden in the 2020 race.  Trump had a puncher’s chance up till Oct. 1 when he diagnosed with Covid-19, after that his polls have been falling like a rock.  McConnell and Graham see what’s happening and want Barrett on the High Court.

 About the Author 

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  Reply  Reply All  Forward

[democratsunited-blog]

Indian-American appointed CEO of Democratic Party's National Committee

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=4948

Indian-American appointed CEO of Democratic Party's National Committee

Seema Nanda (Photo: LinkedIn)

The Democratic National Committee announced June 29, that it has made an Indian-American attorney and civil rights activist its Chief Executive Officer.

Seema Nanda, who was named CEO, is currently the executive vice president and chief operating officer at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the largest human and civil rights organization in the country. Nanda will start later in July in the new position, a press release from the DNC said.

As CEO, Nanda will manage the day-to-day operations of the organization. The DNC coordinates strategy to support the party’s candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office. Which puts Nanda in a challenging position at this time of internal strife within the party between progressives and moderates.

Supporters of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and those who were behind Sen. Bernie Sanders, including millennials, have been at loggerheads over the direction of the party as it tries to use President Donald Trump’s low popularity ratings to turn its own fortunes at the polling booths in upcoming primaries and the mid-term elections Nov. 6.

The decision to appoint Nanda as CEO was made after a five-month search led by current CEO Mary Beth Cahill. Cahill will continue to serve the DNC through the transition and as the DNC heads into the 2018 cycle.

“This position is the opportunity of a lifetime, for which I am incredibly honored and humbled,” Nanda is quoted saying in the press release, adding, “People are hurting all across our country. And I believe that Democrats are offering the positive solutions so desperately-needed right now – solutions forged by the strength of our diversity, the rigor of our ideas, and the decency of our values.”

The graduate of Boston College Law School and Brown University and a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association has served on​ DNC Chair Tom​ Perez’ transition team, which took a fresh look at the ​committee’s operations following the 2016 election and put in place an infrastructure​ that contributed to wins in 2017 and 2018, the press release said.

Nanda has been overseeing strategy and managing day-to-day operations at the Leadership Conference, which is headed by another Indian-American, Vanita Gupta, the Obama administration’s Civil Rights Division chief at the Justice Department.

Prior to the LCCHR, Nanda was Chief of Staff to then-Secretary Tom Perez at the U.S. Department of Labor. While at the Labor Department, she also worked as Deputy Solicitor and as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to Perez, managing a portfolio that included immigration, workforce development, and internal management issues.

“I’m beyond excited that Seema is bringing her talent and brilliance to the DNC,” DNC Chair Tom Perez is quoted saying in the press release. “I’ve seen firsthand Seema’s exceptional ability to lead. She is a seasoned manager who has a proven track record of success and a well-documented history of fighting for our Democratic values, whether it’s on immigration, civil rights or leveling the playing field for our workers. As we head toward such a crucial election, I’m one hundred percent certain that Seema’s leadership will help the DNC capitalize on the unprecedented grassroots energy and enthusiasm surging throughout the country.”

Before her time at the Labor Department, Seema led the now-named Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights Section in U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Her experience also includes practicing labor and employment law and she has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations.

Thanking Perez and Cahill for selecting her, Nanda said she looks forward “to joining my new DNC colleagues in the fight for our nation’s values and future.”

Currently, the Republican National Committee is also headed by a woman, Ronna Romney McDaniel. Nanda’s other challenge is to raise more funds as the DNC has raised far less than the RNC, Glamour magazine noted.

Read full story here

[ltlredx]

via Twitter https://twitter.com/LiberalFenix

[nhlabornews]

Sen Rand Paul Submits National Right To Work Bill (Again) As A Fundraising Ploy

Paul fund-raises on his ‘right to work’ bill, rates a zero on Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights report card

Image by Stump Source FLIKR CC

By BERRY CRAIG

AFT Local 1360

Rand Paul is all in for “right to work,” but he knows his national RTW bill is going nowhere.

Kentucky’s tea party-tilting junior senator never figured it would. He knows hogs will fly before the legislation winds up on the desk of President Trump, a fellow RTW fan.

Paul is clued in to the fact that the Democrats can filibuster the measure to death.

But passing the bill wasn’t Paul’s point. Putting his John Hancock on the legislation was.

Paul’s uber-conservative, well-heeled, union-despising donors are as crazy about RTW as he is. Paul proposed the bill to give himself a chance to burnish his anti-union creds with his bankrollers.

Koch Industries is the pseudo-populist Paul’s third largest contributor, according to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The National Right to Work Committee piled $7,500 into Paul’s campaign coffers.

Charles and David Koch and other kleptocrats have also extended their largess to pro-RTW Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Bluegrass State’s senior senator.

Paul and McConnell realize that GOP-majority state legislatures are where RTW laws get passed. They were on Cloud Ten–the one above Nine–last January when the Republican-run Kentucky General Assembly approved a RTW bill at warp speed; GOP Gov. Matt Bevin lost no time in signing it.

Kentucky unions have filed suit to overturn the bill.

More than just union members understand that RTW laws are among the oldest union-busting tools around. “In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work,’” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. cautioned in 1961. “It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights.”

Added King: “Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone…Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights. We do not intend to let them do this to us. We demand this fraud be stopped. Our weapon is our vote.”

Also in 1961, King warned that “the labor-hater and labor-baiter is virtually always a twin-headed creature spewing anti-Negro epithets from one mouth and anti-labor propaganda from the other mouth [italics mine].”

Last year, every Republican in the House and Senate got an “F” on a congressional report card issued by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, George F. Curry wrote in the Daytona, Fla., Times.

The LCCHR is an umbrella organization with more than 200 member groups. It graded all lawmakers on how they voted on legislation important to the civil and human rights community, explained Curry, editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service and former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine.

Paul rated a zero.

Sen Rand Paul Submits National Right To Work Bill (Again) As A Fundraising Ploy was originally published on NH LABOR NEWS

[autisticadvocacy]

“Abusive police practices coupled with devastating state-sanctioned violence have exacted systemic brutality and fatality upon Black people since our nation’s founding… Congress must rectify these structural wrongs through legislation before another Black life is needlessly lost.”  ASAN joins 442 other civil rights organizations on this letter calling on Congressional leadership to take action on police violence.

[autisticadvocacy]

LCCHR, including ASAN, stands against militarizing and overpolicing schools and communities, including people with mental health disabilities