FORGING A PATH TO JUSTICE Alliance for Justice is a national association of over 100 organizations committed to progressive values and the creation of a fair, just, and free society. For more information about organizational membership, contact the AFJ Outreach Department at (202) 822-6070, or visit www.afj.org.
A MESSAGE FROM NAN ARON PRESIDENT, ALLIANCE FOR JUSTICE With President Barack Obama s second term well underway, Alliance for Justice is accelerating its vigorous efforts to forge a path to justice for every American. In the coming year, and indeed through the end of the Obama presidency, the country will be engaged in a titanic, highly contentious battle over the concept of equal justice under law, the legitimacy of democratic institutions, and the ability of everyday Americans to actively participate in civic life. In this challenging high-stakes climate, Alliance for Justice will both enhance its long-term programs and initiatives and respond to the particular challenges that are likely to emerge as the Obama Administration enters its final phase. As a leading progressive voice on matters related to the federal judiciary and as an unrivaled expert on the legal framework, importance, and assessment of nonprofit advocacy activities, AFJ serves the cause of justice and promotes democratic values by Encouraging civic engagement and strengthening the ability of nonprofit organizations to speak out; Building a diverse judiciary committed to equal justice for all; Fighting to ensure full, unfettered access to the courts for every American; and Challenging the Supreme Court to preserve fundamental rights. During the past year, AFJ has had remarkable success transforming our ideals into action. For example, there has been considerable progress in ending obstruction of President Obama s judicial nominees and in fostering a federal bench that reflects the values of everyday Americans, thanks in part to our work encouraging reforms of the Senate rules and our leadership role in ensuring that judicial nominees reflect the full diversity of the legal profession, including those whose careers have been devoted to the public interest. Our award-winning film, Roe at Risk, has drawn attention to the threats to the fundamental constitutional rights of women that are growing in states across the country. And our national leadership in opposing ill-considered rules proposed by the Internal Revenue Service for 501(c)(4) organizations has played a key role in protecting the rights of Americans who have banded together in hundreds of thousands of nonprofits in order to be active participants in civic life. While we have accomplished much, we have equally large ambitions for the future which is where you come in. With the nation entering a period of great uncertainty and facing an increasingly divisive political climate, more than ever Alliance for Justice needs partners, supporters, and fellow activists to join us in the fight to foster democratic ideals and equal justice for all. There are many ways to connect with us, from joining our action campaigns, to following AFJ and Bolder Advocacy on social media, to subscribing to our e-newsletters, to reading our blogs, to supporting our work with a generous contribution. Please join us in whatever way you can as, together, we forge a path to justice for every American. Nan Aron
ENCOURAGING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND STRENGTHENING NONPROFIT ADVOCACY Sen. Al Franken helped present an annual AFJ Champions of Justice award to Minnesotans United for All Families, one of four state advocacy groups honored for their successful campaigns to advance marriage equality. Our democratic system depends on the active participation of the American people in the policy and political debates that shape our future. Nonprofit organizations are among the most important vehicles for civic engagement, each of which is permitted by law to add its voice in various ways to engage and educate the public about vital issues, shape critical legislation, or participate in elections. Through its highly regarded Bolder Advocacy initiative, AFJ is the leading expert on ensuring a path to democratic participation for nonprofit organizations and on ways to maximize the effectiveness of that advocacy. With misconceptions about how groups can legally engage in advocacy alarmingly common, AFJ s goal is to work with nonprofits, foundations, and individual donors to become smarter and more confident in their advocacy work. At the same time, AFJ encourages all donors and funders to multiply the value of their investments in their grantees by supporting the full range of nonprofit advocacy necessary to create lasting change. rw AFJ President Nan Aron (@NanAron) appeared on MSNBC s Disrupt with Karen Finney to discuss the Supreme Court Ethics Act of 2013. AFJ has been a national leader in calling for the Justices to adopt a Code of Conduct similar to ethical rules that lower court judges must follow. AFJ s Path Forward ard The country will go through several federal, state, and local electoral cycles between 2014 and 2016, including a mid-term and presidential election. Nonprofit organizations frequently have questions and concerns about what they can and can t do during an election cycle. They also need encouragement to fully exercise their rights in the electoral context. AFJ s sector-leading Bolder Advocacy initiative is developing a host of new and expanded election-year resources, including an online toolkit, special-edition newsletters and blog posts, election-themed webinars and events, and a special election advocacy page at BolderAdvocacy.org. Following up on AFJ s successful work delaying new IRS rules that would have needlessly constrained nonpartisan civic engagement, Bolder Advocacy is leading the fight to prevent unfair and undemocratic rules from being promulgated. In a climate where Congress is paralyzed by partisan politics and cash-strapped state governments face ongoing budgetary constraints, nonprofit groups are increasingly turning to ballot measures to advance critical public policies or to preserve safety net services. In response, AFJ is expanding its ballot-measure resources, including a new comprehensive Ballot Measure Guide for Nonprofits and Foundations. AFJ is creating new offerings in the area of advocacy strategy training to help advocates working in one area of advocacy learn lessons from successes in other areas. Advocates report that they often don t hear about successful, advocacy approaches used outside their own fields. AFJ identifies and promotes best practices and shares cuttingedge techniques and advocacy tactics from all over the country through trainings, webinars, our website, and high profile events. In addition to its presence in Oakland, Calif., AFJ is opening new offices in Los Angeles to serve Southern California and Dallas to deliver services in Texas.
In the battle over reproductive rights thousands of bills have been introduced in state legislatures to severely curtail or dismantle the constitutional rights of women. AFJ s award-winning short documentary, Roe at Risk: Fighting for Reproductive Justice, tells the story of the burgeoning threats to the rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade through the prism of women s day-to-day struggles in Mississippi and Texas and of efforts nationwide to fight back. Visit www.roeatrisk.org. Ill-advised and poorly drafted new regulations proposed by the IRS at the end of 2013 could deal a blow to the ability of 501(c)(4) organizations to participate in the democratic process. AFJ s Bolder Advocacy initiative led the way in opposing the regulations, helped clarify the arguments against the proposed policy, and served as the most prominent public voice supporting the role of legitimate social welfare organizations in American life. Visit www.bolderadvocacy.org. BUILDING A DIVERSE JUDICIARY COMMITTED TO EQUAL JUSTICE FOR ALL Crucial to the protection of democratic principles is a judiciary that adheres to a balanced approach to the law, respects the rights of everyday Americans, and upholds core constitutional values. For that reason, AFJ devotes considerable attention to the judicial selection process, playing a central role in promoting diverse, progressive candidates for federal judgeships and opposing political obstruction of President Obama s nominees to the bench. AFJ s efforts are buttressed by our role as the leading resource for objective information about the nominations process and a national reputation for high-quality research. The federal judiciary remains in crisis, with too few judges to provide justice to the American people, a condition aggravated by relentless political attacks and delaying tactics, which continue unabated well into President Obama s second term. Reforms to the Senate s rules governing judicial and executive-branch nominees have opened up the door for a fairer, more rapid nomination and confirmation process, but obstacles remain. AFJ s efforts will be directed toward further reforms of Senate processes and to ensuring that all vacant seats are filled with qualified nominees who reflect the full professional and personal diversity of the American legal profession. AFJ s Path Forward ard As the national leader in research and objective reporting on the nominations process, AFJ is enhancing and expanding its comprehensive online database of information about federal judgeships, open seats, and nominees, embedded in the Judicial Selection section of afj.org. With the need for public support for a fully staffed judiciary continuing through the end of President Obama s term, AFJ is accelerating its existing efforts to foster national and state-level coalitions and partnerships to end the crisis of vacant seats on the federal bench and ensure a judiciary dedicated to equal justice for all. In an effort to ensure that the federal judiciary reflects the full diversity of the legal profession and the interests of everyday Americans, AFJ is expanding its work devoted to broadening the bench through events, publications, social media efforts, and behind-the-scenes work with local legal communities, senators, and the White House. The federal judiciary is strengthened, and the quality of justice is enhanced, when more legal professionals from the fields of public interest and civil rights law, academia, and other forms of public service are added to the ranks of our nation s judges.
Nan Aron testified at a House Judiciary Committee hearing that posed the disingenuous question, Are More Judges Always the Answer? but whose actual purpose was to disparage President Obama s effort to fill three vacancies on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. In spite of efforts to prevent Patricia Millett, Nina Pillard, and Robert Wilkins from taking the bench, all three were eventually confirmed by the Senate, following rules reforms spurred by AFJ and others. AFJ often takes the fight for judicial nominations to the states, fostering local coalitions, raising public and media awareness, and providing the hard facts necessary to make the case for the confirmation of President Obama s nominees. One major battleground is Texas, which has one of the highest rates of vacancies in its federal courts, jeopardizing justice for individuals and businesses throughout the state. A press conference held in November 2013 demonstrates one of the ways AFJ and its partners and allies fight to end the staffing crisis in the federal judiciary. THE FIGHT TO ENSURE EQUAL JUSTICE A cornerstone of American democracy is the notion that all members of our society should have the same expectation of justice along with equal access to the courts to secure it. But for decades, special interests have sought to control the legal system for their own ends. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court has relentlessly weakened the ability of everyday Americans to employ the courts either as individuals or united with others sharing their concerns, and has substituted procedures, such as forced arbitration, that inherently favor corporate power. AFJ is seeking to alter the national conversation about the courts and to create an environment that makes it more difficult for the federal judiciary to further tilt the balance away from long-held, hardwon ideals of equal justice for all. AFJ s Path Forward ard At the end of the year, AFJ will release a comprehensive annual report on American justice that will be issued to coincide with the Chief Justice s annual report on the federal courts, describing not just our assessment of the condition of the courts themselves, but a snapshot of the administration of justice from the point of view of everyday Americans. At some point, virtually every American has unknowingly surrendered one of the most basic rights of citizenship: the right to trial by jury. Codified in the contracts and agreements that govern countless everyday commercial transactions and employment contracts, and spurred on by a series of destructive Supreme Court decisions, a wall of protection has been erected around powerful corporations to ensure that they never have to be held accountable for their actions or be inconvenienced by the legal system that governs the rest of us. AFJ will devote its 2014 15 video and action campaign to this phenomenon, combining a short documentary film, nationwide events, social media outreach, and citizen activism, all aimed at addressing the growing threats to our fundamental rights found in the fine print of daily life. Commentator and journalist Bill Moyers addressed the AFJ Champion of Justice award dinner in New York City, which honored attorney, advocate, and public servant Bob Pennoyer.
CHALLENGING THE SUPREME COURT TO PRESERVE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS The principal battlefield in the fight for the fundamental rights of everyday Americans continues to be in the Supreme Court of the United States, as was demonstrated by the disappointing decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which undermined the landmark Voting Rights Act. For AFJ, this case, and others that deal with fundamental issues like access to the courts, workers rights, reproductive rights, and the power of the federal government to regulate corporate activity, are in and of themselves vitally important for the preservation of core constitutional principles, but they also provide an opportunity to foster a more robust understanding among the American people about the central role the courts play in shaping American life. Also central to the functioning of our democracy are the concepts of transparency and accountability for public officials. No public servant is above the law or immune from public scrutiny, including the justices of the Supreme Court, and so AFJ will pursue its goal of increasing Supreme Court transparency and ethical conduct. AFJ s Path Forward ard Every federal judge in America is subject to a code of conduct with the glaring exception of the nine justices of the Supreme Court. As part of our multi-year effort focused on ethics in the high court, AFJ will work to build support for legislation requiring the justices to adopt the code, as well as efforts to mandate the use of cameras and simultaneous audio transmissions of the Court s oral arguments. As part of its commitment to public education about the Court, AFJ is expanding its one-ofa-kind Audio Analysis, which uses excerpts from audio recordings of the Court s oral arguments to explain the issues at stake in key Supreme Court cases. As part of its 10th anniversary celebration, AFJ s West Coast Office participated in the Northern California Grantmakers annual conference, which focused on the growing issue of income inequality, and which featured remarks by AFJ President Nan Aron and professor and author Robert Reich. Achieving justice and restoring public faith in our justice system requires that the federal bench include judges who bring to their jobs a wide variety of experiences in both their personal and their professional lives. AFJ has launched an initiative to encourage the nomination of judges whose professional backgrounds match the full diversity of the legal profession, including those working in the public interest, academia, or on behalf of the rights of everyday Americans. Sen. Elizabeth Warren took part in an AFJsponsored event on Capitol Hill, along with retired Judge Nancy Gertner and NAACP LDF president Sherrilyn Ifill, to build momentum to broaden the bench. After five years of unrelenting obstruction of President Obama s nominees, the Senate in late 2013 changed its rules governing the filibuster, weakening the ability of the minority to derail the judicial selection process. AFJ s leadership role in the Fix the Senate Now coalition and longstanding work, both in public and behind the scenes, to advance the President s nominees, has led to a surge in confirmations, including three new judges to the critically important U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. AFJ s role was so important that even a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, when asked what would happen next replied, Talk to Nan Aron.
The process of forging a path to justice requires the active participation of everyone who seeks a fair, equitable, and democratic society. You are invited to connect with Alliance for Justice in any and every way you can. Here are some opportunities to get involved, stay informed, and join our growing community of organizations and individuals fighting every day for justice for all. CONNECT WITH US Alliance for Justice Website www.afj.org Bolder Advocacy Website www.bolderadvocacy.org Justice Digest Weekly E-mail Newsletter Subscribe at www.afj.org Bolder Advocacy Weekly E-mail Newsletter Subscribe at www.bolderadvocacy.org Justice Watch Blog www.afj.org/blog Bolder Advocacy Blog www.bolderadvocacy.org/blog Alliance for Justice 11 Dupont Circle, N.W. Second Floor Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 822-6070 Fax: (202) 822-6068 Twitter for AFJ @AFJustice Twitter for Bolder Advocacy @AFJBeBold Facebook for AFJ www.facebook.com/allianceforjustice Facebook for Bolder Advocacy www.facebook.com/bolderadvocacy YouTube www.youtube.com/alliance4justice Huffington Post www.huffingtonpost.com/nan-aron/ Bolder Advocacy Technical Assistance Help Line Toll Free: (866) 675-6229 AFJ West Coast Office 436 14th Street, Suite 425 Oakland, CA 94612 Phone: (510) 444-6070 Fax: (510) 444-6078
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ken Grossinger, Chair Winsome McIntosh, Vice Chair Paulette Meyer, Secretary Betsy Cavendish, Treasurer Nan Aron, President Rea Carey Terisa Chaw David Goldston Barbara Gonzalez-McIntosh Clay Hiles Paul Katcher Norman Rosenberg Jahan Sagafi Judith Scott Arnold Spellun Bradley Whitford Patricia J. Williams How to Support Alliance for Justice Alliance for Justice depends on the generous support of individuals like you, as well as foundations and organizations which value our fight for equal justice and civic engagement. Please help us ensure that justice is afforded to all Americans by making a contribution at www.afj.org. Alliance for Justice is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax-deductible, as provided by law. For more information on how you can support our critical work, please contact the Development Department at (202) 822-6070. Copyright 2014 Alliance for Justice