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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights this week welcomed President
Obama’s State of the Union call for fixing the partisan gridlock that
is keeping judicial nominees and others from public service.
"The state of our union would be stronger if senators would do their
constitutional duty to provide advice and consent instead of delaying
and obstructing President Obama’s highly qualified judicial nominees,"
said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership
Conference.
President Obama’s latest initiatives focused on the housing and mortgage crisis were also applauded.
“Today’s announcements mark a significant breakthrough for the
communities hardest hit by mortgage foreclosures, and for our economy
overall. The administration’s moves to step up enforcement of fair
lending and financial regulation laws, and to encourage the greater use
of principal reduction within the HAMP program, demonstrate that it has
been listening to those most affected by the housing crisis. We applaud
President Obama for putting real teeth into these initiatives,” said
Wade Henderson, president & CEO of The Leadership Conference.
A coalition of 38 civil rights, disability, business, and education organizations this week signed on to a
letter opposing draft House legislation to rewrite Title I and other
parts of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The letter stated
that the groups are opposing the bill because “it abandons
accountability for the achievement and learning gains of subgroups of
disadvantaged students who for generations have been harmed by low
academic expectations.”
At a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee field hearing on the threats to voting rights in Florida,
Henderson submitted testimony challenging the necessity of laws such as
Florida’s HB 1355 that shorten the time for early voting and make it
harder for organizations to conduct voter registration work. “Although
many historical barriers to voting—like property requirements, literacy
tests, and poll taxes—are no longer constitutional, for many Americans
voter registration continues to be an impediment,” Henderson said.
Congratulations to former
Minnesota state Senator Mee Moua after it was announced this week that
she would become the new president and executive director of the Asian
American Justice Center (AAJC) – a member organization of The Leadership Conference executive committee.
The Leadership Conference was also excited to learn this week that “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” has been nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Documentary Short Subject. The Oscars will be handed out on February 26th.
Civil Rights Monitor: Privacy Rights: A 21st Century Update
"The Electronic
Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) was Congress’s effort to deal with
these new developments. But Congress has not substantially updated the law
during the intervening years despite the astounding way in which technology has
transformed the world we once knew," write Christopher Calabrese, legislative counsel for privacy issues at the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) and Sandra Fulton, a legislative assistant at the ACLU
focusing on privacy issues, in the latest volume The Leadership Conference Education Fund's Civil Rights Monitor. Read More
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