Wikipedia.org political website: on Civil Rights
Alberto Gonzales:
No express grant of habeas corpus in the Constitution
On January 18 2007, Gonzales was invited to speak to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he shocked the committee’s ranking member, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, by stating that there was no guarantee to the right of habeas corpus in the Constitution.
An excerpt of the exchange follows:GONZALES: There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. There is a prohibition against taking it away.
SPECTER: Now, wait a minute. The Constitution says you can’t take it away, except in the case of
rebellion or invasion. Doesn’t that mean you have the right of habeas corpus, unless there is an invasion or rebellion?
Senator Specter was referring to Article One of the Constitution which reads: “The Privilege of the Writ of
Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” This passage has been historically interpreted to mean that the right of habeas corpus is inherently established.
Source: Wikipedia, Alberto Gonzales article (Bush Cabinet)
Jul 31, 2007
Ann-Marie Adams:
President of the Conn. Association of Black Communicators
While [working as a journalist at The Hartford] Courant, Adams became the youngest president of the Connecticut Association of Black Communicators (CABC), a chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).
Adams is also the founder of the National Association of Caribbean-American Journalists (NACAJ). She was a board member of the John E. Rogers African American Cultural Center, and the Black Fashion Museum's Harlem Fashion Week.
As president of CABC, Adams spoke out about the paucity of minority journalists in the media. In June 2001,
she was featured in an American Journalism Review article about the declining number of minority journalists in Connecticut.
Source: Wikipedia on 2018 Connecticut Senate race
Feb 18, 2018
Bill Waller:
Father shut down segregationist Mississippi Commissions
Gov. Waller Senior [the father of Bill Waller running for Governor in 2019] is credited with winning elections without using racially charged or racially offensive rhetoric. He organized working class white voters and African American voters separately
and usually did not merge their election efforts until it was too late in the election cycle for internal conflicts to disrupt the campaign.Gov. Waller Sr. effectively shut-down the segregationist Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission by vetoing
its appropriation while he was governor. He appointed numerous non-whites to positions in state government. After leaving office, Gov. Waller Sr. lost the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in 1978 and for governor again in 1987.
Gov. Waller was survived by his wife, former Mississippi First Lady Carroll Waller (died 2014), and their son, William Waller Jr., Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court [from 2009 until 2019, when he resigned to declare for Governor].
Source: Wikipedia.com article on Gov. Bill Waller Senior
May 2, 2019
Christy Mihos:
Supports gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples
Mihos supports abortion rights, gay marriage, and adoption by same-sex couples.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Jun 5, 2006
Cynthia McKinney:
Introduced MLK Records Act, to unseal assassination files
McKinney has submitted to Congress two different versions of the same bill, the “MLK Records Act” (one in 2003, the other in 2005), which, if signed into law, would release all currently sealed files concerning the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther
King, Jr. These records were sealed in 1978 and are not due to be declassified until the year 2028. The 2005 version of the MLK Records Act, HR 2554 had 67 co-sponsors by the time McKinney left office at the end of 2006.
Source: Wikipedia article, “Cynthia McKinney”
Dec 21, 2007
Dan Bishop:
Authored "bathroom bill": no trans-gendered public restrooms
Bishop was the lead author of North Carolina's so-called "bathroom bill" which prohibited transgender individuals from using public restrooms other than those by their biological sex as defined on their birth certificates.
The bill was signed into law. It created public backlash and was subsequently overruled by a federal judge in Asheville in a ruling affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.
Source: Wikipedia on North Carolina "Bathroom Bill" voting record
May 18, 2019
Joe Biden:
1987 Biden Report: Reject Bork; he'd roll back civil rights
A brief [on Bork's Supreme Court nomination] was prepared for Joe Biden, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the Biden Report. Bork later said in his best-selling book The Tempting of America that the report "so thoroughly misrepresented a
plain record that it easily qualifies as world class in the category of scurrility."A hotly contested United States Senate debate over Bork's nomination ensued, partly fueled by strong opposition by civil and women's rights groups concerned with what
they claimed was Bork's desire to roll back civil rights decisions of the Warren and Burger courts. Bork is one of only three Supreme Court nominees to ever be opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, along with William Rehnquist and Samuel Alito.
Bork was also criticized for being an "advocate of disproportionate powers for the executive branch of Government, almost executive supremacy," as allegedly demonstrated by his role in the Saturday Night Massacre.
Source: Wikipedia.org, "Robert Bork", re: Slouching Towards Gomorrah
Nov 17, 2009
Kathleen Sebelius:
No Constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage
Sebelius did not support an April 2005 amendment to the Kansas Constitution that made same-sex marriage in the state unconstitutional.
Sebelius said she supported the existing state law outlawing same-sex marriage, viewed it as sufficient, and therefore opposed the constitutional amendment. The amendment passed with 70 percent voter approval.
Source: Wikipedia.com article "Kathleen_Sebelius"
Apr 21, 2008
Mike Gravel:
Unequivocally supports same-sex marriage
A press release spelled out his support for the recognition of same-sex marriages and other aspects of the gay civil rights agenda. It said Senator Gravel:- Unequivocally supports same-sex marriage and opposes the Defense of Marriage Act.
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Supports expanding hate-crime legislation and opposes laws that allow discrimination against sexual orientation, as well as discrimination on the basis of one's gender identity or expression.
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In the absence of full marriage rights, supports domestic partner benefits for all Americans.
- Will repeal the military's ‘Don't Ask Don't Tell' legislation on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, as it restricts the rights of gay Americans.
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Opposes any state or national constitutional amendment that restricts the rights of the LGBT community.
Source: Wikipedia.org article on Mike Gravel campaign
Feb 26, 2007
Samuel Alito:
Agrees that women should consult husband before abortion
Alito wrote a dissenting opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, "The Pennsylvania legislature could have believed that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands'
knowledge because of perceived problems - such as economic constraints, future plans, or the husbands' previously expressed opposition - that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion."
Source: Wikipedia.org, "Alito, Case History"
Nov 1, 2005
Samuel Alito:
Government cannot supress free speech in alcohol ads
Alito wrote a unanimous opinion in The Pitt News v. Pappert, 2004, upholding the right of student newspapers to carry alcohol advertisements on First Amendment grounds.
"If government were free to suppress disfavored speech by preventing potential speakers from being paid, there would not be much left of the First Amendment."
Source: Wikipedia.org, "Alito, Case History"
Nov 1, 2005
Ted Kennedy:
1987: "Robert Bork's America" means censorship & segregation
Reagan nominated Bork for the seat on July 1, 1987. Within 45 minutes, Ted Kennedy took to the Senate floor with a strong condemnation of Bork in a nationally televised speech, declaring: "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced
into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers & artists could be censored at the whim of the
Government, & the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is--and is often the only--protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy. No justice would be better
than this injustice."Bork complained that "There was not a line in that speech that was accurate." In its obituary of Kennedy, The Economist remarked that Bork was correct about the inaccuracy of Kennedy's speech, "But it worked."
Source: Wikipedia.org, "Robert Bork", re: Slouching Towards Gomorrah
Nov 17, 2009
Tom Reilly:
Led Budd & Reilly--largest minority law firm in MA
Reilly worked for two years as a prosecutor in the state attorney general's civil rights division. He worked for four years as a Suffolk County prosecutor.
In 1976, Tom Reilly and Wayne Budd formed "Budd and Reilly", a Boston based law firm. The firm became the largest minority dominated firm in New England.
Source: Wikipedia.com
Feb 6, 2006
David McCormick:
2013: supported same-sex marriage to Supreme Court
In 2013, McCormick joined 131 other Republicans in signing an amicus brief filed at the United States Supreme Court supporting the legalization of gay marriage prior to Obergefell v. Hodges. During McCormick's tenure as CEO of Bridgewater Associates, the
Source: Wikipedia on 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race
May 22, 2022
Donald Trump:
Blasphemy to promote transgender visibility on Easter Sunday
Trump Statement:"It is appalling and insulting that Joe Biden's White House formally proclaimed Easter Sunday as 'Trans Day of Visibility.' Sadly, more examples of the Biden Administration's years-long assault on the Christian faith.
We call on Joe Biden's failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe [Easter Sunday] is for one celebration only--the resurrection of Jesus Christ."FactCheck
(Wikipedia downloaded 4/5/202):International Transgender Day of Visibility (often referred to as TDOV) is an annual event occurring every March 31 since 2009. dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination
faced by transgender people worldwide. In 2024, TDOV coincided with the Christian holiday of Easter that year. President Biden's support of TDOV was condemned by some Christian Republicans, which transgender advocates say is manufactured.
Source: Wikipedia FactCheck on Pres. 2024 press release: "TDOV"
Mar 30, 2024
Page last updated: Nov 03, 2024