From: Nita and Shaunna, UltraViolet

Had enough gridlock and obstruction to the pro-woman agenda? We have, too. Tell Majority Leader Reid and Senate Democrats: Reform the filibuster!

http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1285?t=2&akid=689.6000.Ut16Gt

Dear Readers:

A once in a lifetime opportunity is approaching to change the landscape of women’s rights, and we can’t miss it.

Here’s the story: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a change in the Senate rules that would stop the Tea Party from blocking all the progress we care about.1 Most recently, the Tea Party blocked pro-choice, pro-woman superhero Professor Nina Pillard from a judgeship on the powerful DC Circuit Court, despite a clear majority of 57 Senators supporting her.2

She’s not alone, either. Pillard is the third woman nominated by President Obama for the DC Circuit to be blocked by the filibuster–the rule that allows a minority of Senators to stop a vote from even happening–this year alone.3 Also blocked is commonsense gun safety legislation and, if the Tea Party has their way this week, legislation to address military sexual assault.4

Majority Leader Reid is just a few votes shy of reforming the filibuster so well-qualified, pro-woman judges with majority support like Pillard can serve our nation. If we take action now, we can push this boulder over the hill. If we don’t, then despite a pro-woman majority in the Senate and a pro-woman President in the White House, we could lose this opportunity for change.

Visit here to tell Majority Leader Reid and Senate Democrats: Reform the filibuster. We can’t miss this opportunity for change.
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1285?t=3&akid=689.6000.Ut16Gt

Professor Pillard is not the only casualty of the extreme right-wing’s war on women via the filibuster. Among the other examples are:

This week, as Sen. Gillibrand’s bill to address the epidemic of sexual assault in the military has the public support of a majority of Senators but may be blocked because the filibuster requires a super-majority

– In April, when a Senate filibuster defeated hopes of restoring mandatory background checks on gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons in the wake of widespread gun violence

– In 2009, when Indiana University Law Professor Dawn Johnsen was nominated by President Obama for the powerful Office of Legal Counsel. Johnsen was opposed by nearly all Republicans solely because of her work decades ago for NARAL, a pro-choice organization, and her nomination was cleared by the Judiciary Committee but never given a floor vote due to a filibuster threat

Not all filibusters are bad, and the filibuster is an important right meant to protect the minority party. But over the last few years it has been abused. And that has to stop. The right-wing’s decision to filibuster everything that moves has literally hit record numbers–the number of filibusters doubled immediately after Democrats took the majority in 2006, and nearly 400 filibusters have occurred since. Contrast that with only 23 in the entire 18th century and fewer than one per year before 1969.5 Elections have consequences, and it should not be that 41 Senators from a party not elected to govern can forever block progress, then blame the majority for doing nothing. It’s not in the Constitution nor the public interest.

Professor Pillard is a rare chance to put a fabulous pro-woman advocate on court that many consider to be a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. She’s highly qualified and her accomplishments in the courtroom include upholding the Family and Medical Leave Act and ending the Virginia Military Institute’s exclusion of women. She’s been a lawyer for the Justice Department, ACLU, and NAACP, and has written in favor of comprehensive sex education and a woman’s right to choose.6 In short, she’d be our response to the Rick Perrys, Lindsey Grahams, and Antonin Scalias of government.

If we let the right-wing have their way now, they’ll push us around when Justice Ginsburg retires from the Supreme Court, too. At a time when states like Texas and Senators like Lindsey Graham are forcing through an ideological, anti-woman agenda, the courts are our last refuge–which means we need to do everything in our power to make sure fair-minded judges like Pillard sit on them.

Tell Majority Leader Reid and Senate Democrats: Enact filibuster reform. The stakes for women’s rights are too high to let this moment pass us by.
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/go/1285?t=4&akid=689.6000.Ut16Gt

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Malinda, Adam, and Gabriela, the UltraViolet team

Sources:

1. Harry Reid is set to go nuclear, The Washington Post, November 20, 2013

2. Republicans Again Reject Obama’s Pick For Judiciary, New York Times, November 12, 2013

3. Senate Republicans Filibuster Judicial Nominee Who Dared To Talk About Women’s Rights, ThinkProgress, November 12, 2013

4. Senate Blocks Drive for Gun Control, New York Times, April 17, 2013

Fierce Floor Debate Ahead On Military Sexual Assault Proposals, ABC News, November 20, 2013

5. Statement by Senator Tom Harkin on the Reform of the Filibuster, Senate.gov, January 24, 2013

6. Nina Pillard Nomination for D.C. Circuit Advances, Legal Times, September 19, 2013

Cry of the Republican Male Senator, Slate, July 25, 2013

Scary Feminist Nominated for Federal Judgeship; Conservatives Flip Out, Jezebel, July 24, 2013