 What Happens in Arizona, Stops in Arizona Put an End to Workplace Discrimination ACLU Marks Passing Of Civil Rights Leader Dr. Dorothy Height This Mother's Day, Urge your Senators to Stand Up for Women and Mothers Maryland Liberates Prisoners of the Census Human Rights: It's Time to Practice What We Preach  Human Rights: It's Time to Practice What We Preach For years, U.S. leadership on the world stage has suffered because our nation seems to hold a double standard on human rights. Historically, notions of U.S. exceptionalism and the selective ignoring of injustices and human rights violations—home and abroad—have bred mistrust of U.S. leadership based on our incomplete commitment to universal human rights. The Obama administration, however, has committed to changing that. Combining the United Nations Human Rights Council, the appointment of officials promoting civil and human rights, and the willingness of this administration to work with members of civil society sends the promising message that President Obama is prepared to engage with the international community on new and more principled terms than previous administrations. These efforts, however, are not enough. What we have yet to see are new, bold steps that prioritize human rights at home. That's why the ACLU is working with the Human Rights at Home Campaign—a coalition of more than 50 human rights, civil rights and social justice organizations working to strengthen our country's commitment to human rights at home and abroad. Its goal is to create a national political culture that supports and advocates for human rights. The campaign is advocating for an explicit commitment to implementing the full spectrum of human rights as envisioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, recognizing that every human being is entitled not only to civil and political rights but also to economic, social and cultural rights. As a first step, the campaign has been calling on the administration to issue an executive order aimed at increasing the effectiveness and coordination of the efforts of the executive branch to meet our domestic human rights obligations by creating an identifiable focal point for the administration's human rights activities and policy work. This type of mechanism would also establish a specific structure with a systematic and transparent process for implementing human rights obligations in U.S. domestic policy and would enhance federal, state and local coordination in support of human rights. >> Take action: Ask President Obama to sign an executive order on domestic human rights. back to top  Do you know somebody who would be interested in getting news about the ACLU and what we're doing to protect civil liberties? Help us spread the word about ACLU Online — forward this newsletter to a friend. | May 7, 2010 What Happens in Arizona, Stops in Arizona
Arizona's new law sacrifices the civil liberties of millions of people living and working in Arizona, while doing nothing to address the real problems the state is facing. We must make sure this kind of law doesn't spread to other states. The ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, the ACLU of Arizona, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Immigration Law Center have teamed up to mount a legal challenge to this extreme, new law. The goal is to prevent the law from ever going into effect. But lawsuits are not enough. We need you to take action, too. Send a message to your state lawmaker and governor. Even if you think your elected representatives and governor are sympathetic on this issue, they need to hear that you will not tolerate a dangerous racial profiling law. Only a complete rejection of this dangerous, un-American approach will prevent it from spreading to other states. >> Tell your governor and state representative: What happens in Arizona, stops in Arizona. >> Learn more about other ways to get involved. back to top MY LETTER TO VA GOVT ON IMMIGRATION I am writing to express my outrage about the bill that was just signed into law in Arizona. It invites and virtually compels racial profiling, and I don't want such a law to spread to my state. Among other flaws, the law requires every police officer in Arizona to ask people for their papers based only on some undefined "reasonable suspicion" that they are in the country unlawfully. To avoid arrest, citizens and non-citizens will effectively have to carry their "papers" at all times, so the residents of Arizona are treated just like the residents of Nazi Germany and the communist block were, and like the people of our theocratic dictatorship allies in the Persian Gulf are as are the residents of the PRC, Iran, and N.Korea. What a group of nations to model our policies after!!!!! It is discriminatory, unfair and inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution and comes at a high cost both to Arizona taxpayers and to our treasured civil liberties. Arizona's transformation into a potential police state has already spawned similar efforts elsewhere. I strongly oppose any effort to adopt this kind of legislation in our state. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Put an End to Workplace DiscriminationIt may be hard to believe, but the original version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was first introduced in Congress more than a generation ago. LGBT people have made a great deal of progress in the decades since; however, the need for Congress to act and finally pass ENDA could not be stronger. Today, it remains legal to fire or refuse to hire someone for being lesbian, gay or bisexual in 29 states—while transgender workers can be denied or refused jobs in 38 states. These numbers clearly demonstrate the pressing need for the federal government to expand employment non-discrimination protections to LGBT workers. ENDA will allow all American workers who stand side-by-side at the workplace and contribute with equal measure in their jobs to also stand on the same equal footing in the eyes of the law. It is fundamentally unacceptable that in present-day America there is a group of people who go to work and are forced to deny their families and loved ones—and have to hide who they are for fear of losing their livelihood. The House of Representatives will soon be voting on a fully-inclusive version of ENDA that will protect workers from discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity. This critical and long-overdue legislation will not succeed without the support of Americans who are committed to fairness and equality in the workplace. >> Take action! Please ask your representative to support ENDA today. back to top ACLU Marks Passing Of Civil Rights Leader Dr. Dorothy Height Dorothy Height, civil rights leader and tireless social justice advocate, passed away on April 20 in Washington, D.C. Laura Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, reflects upon Dr. Height's activism. The passing of Dr. Dorothy Height was a huge loss to the nation, particularly to American women. She inspired me and so many women leaders because she embraced and nurtured her sisters and daughters in the movement. I lost a role model and a mentor who, whenever we met, always clasped my hand in hers, looked me in the eyes and said, "Carry on." She had a determination to stand her ground as a leader for over 70 years throughout the entire modern day civil rights movement which is sadly, to this day, a deeply male-dominated sphere. It is striking how Dr. Height outlasted so many men who were the civil rights leaders of the moment. It was her extraordinary combination of skills and attributes that were hardwired into her being: a tremendous memory for names, dates and events, a flawless command of the English language, a unique speaking voice, an elegant style of dressing, her height, a steady temperament and unwavering good manners. Dr. Height often demonstrated her remarkable skill as the "clean-up" speaker. The men in the civil rights movement often had her speak last (so as to not to miss the elusive TV cameras), and when she did, she packed a powerful punch by putting the moment in historical context and reminding us to stay resolved to keep the pressure on. Unlike some leaders, when she spoke, she never burned a bridge with a vicious attack or an off-color remark. She rarely budged when men tried to shunt her aside. And, she understood that whenever possible she should lift up the good that Black America had to offer—especially its women. Thank goodness there was much made of the passing of Dr. Height, with services at the National Cathedral and with press editorials and statements from the White House, former U.S. presidents, and national and world leaders. Dr. Height may get her due in her passing, but what about the one thing that Dr. Height worked so hard to achieve? What about her work to lift women— especially black women—into leadership roles? For those of us who knew and loved her, the best thing that we can do is to grab the hand of a young woman, especially those who are committed to social justice issues, look them in the eye and say: "Carry on!" back to top This Mother's Day, Urge your Senators to Stand Up for Women and MothersIran, Somalia, Sudan, Nauru, Palau, Tonga, and the United States. Those are the seven nations worldwide that have not yet ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a landmark international treaty that affirms women's human rights. Although the U.S. played a major role in drafting the treaty and signed it in 1980, it has never been ratified by the Senate. In fact, CEDAW has been dormant in the Senate since 2002, when it was last reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But we're happy to report that, last year, the Obama administration prioritized CEDAW ratification, prompting a reenergized campaign to join the 186 countries around the world that have ratified CEDAW. Across the globe, CEDAW has been used to ensure primary education for girls, improve access to health care services, combat human trafficking, pass laws against domestic violence and female genital mutilation, and allow women to own and inherit property. Domestically, ratification of CEDAW would encourage the U.S. to take stronger action against issues such as gender-based and domestic violence, as well as discrimination against women in housing, education and employment. Though ratifying CEDAW will not automatically result in changes to U.S. law, it would provide a new and significant opportunity for a national dialogue on the gains made and the challenges that remain to improve women's full equality. >> This Mother's Day, urge your Senators to stand up for women and mothers in the U.S. and across the globe by finally ratifying CEDAW.. back to top Maryland Liberates Prisoners of the CensusOn April 12, Maryland became the first state in the country to count incarcerated people as residents of their hometowns, rather than as residents of the place where they are imprisoned, for the purposes of legislative districting. The passage of the No Representation Without Population Act ends prison-based gerrymandering, which falsely inflates the political power of districts with prisons, due to the U.S. Census's practice of counting incarcerated populations as residents of the prison. Incarcerated populations have the potential to skew representation significantly because prisons tend to be located in sparsely populated rural areas. For example, in one Western Maryland legislative district, 18 percent of the population is comprised of prisoners. This means that every group of four residents in this district has as much political influence as five residents anywhere else in the state. It is important to note that the new redistricting does not affect the distribution of any funding based on census data, nor does it weaken the economic benefits associated with prisons. Correcting this power imbalance is not the urban-versus-rural issue as it is sometimes portrayed, but rather, it is a crucial step in the fight for electoral equality and fair representation. back to top |
No comments:
Post a Comment