May, 01 2009, 11:50am EDT

Statement of Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, on Reports of Justice David Souter's Possible Retirement
WASHINGTON
"Speculation regarding Justice David Souter's possible retirement is
yet another stark reminder of the important role the Supreme Court
plays in our everyday lives.
"In the event of a vacancy, President Obama will have the
opportunity to nominate a fair-minded individual who, like him and the
majority of Americans, supports the constitutional right to privacy as
reflected in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The president
has consistently voiced his support for these fundamental American
principles, which created a clear contrast between him and his opponent
in last year's presidential race.
"As legal observers discussed at length during that campaign,
today's Court is in a tenuous position. With the addition of President
Bush's appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito,
the Court has moved in a direction hostile to a woman's right to
choose. Justice Anthony Kennedy, regarded as the key swing vote on
cases related to reproductive rights, has sided with Justices Antonin
Scalia and Clarence Thomas in the last two major choice-related cases.
"These changes in the Court's composition further underscore why, in
the event of Justice Souter's retirement, it will be critical for
President Obama to nominate-and for the U.S. Senate to confirm-a
successor who will uphold American liberties, like those set forth in Roe, that respect individual freedom and prevent politicians from interfering in our most personal, private decisions.
"Without a doubt, opponents of women's freedom and privacy will use
a vacancy on the Court as an opportunity to further their attacks on
nominees who have taken pro-choice positions. America's pro-choice
majority will fight back."
Additional Resources:
For more information about Justice Souter's decisions on choice-related cases, please visit https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/assets/files/Courts-SCOTUS-Souter-bio.pdf
For information about the Supreme Court's decisions on key cases related to reproductive rights, please visit https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/assets/files/Courts-SCOTUS-Choice-Cases.pdf
For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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AOC Won't Seek Oversight Role: 'Underlying Dynamics in the Caucus Have Not Shifted'
"I believe I'll be staying put at Energy and Commerce," the progressive congresswoman said.
May 05, 2025
This is a breaking story… Please check back for possible updates...
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ended a week of speculation on Monday by announcing that she will not seek the ranking member position on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The New York Democrat, who last year ran for ranking member and lost to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), told reporters, "It's actually clear to me that the underlying dynamics in the caucus have not shifted with respect to seniority as much as I think would be necessary, so I believe I'll be staying put at Energy and Commerce."
Ocasio-Cortez has recently been crisscrossing the country with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for his Fighting Oligarchy Tour. Nationally, the 35-year-old progressive is seen as a possible primary challenger to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and even a potential future presidential candidate.
Politico's Nicholas Wu noted last week that if Ocasio-Cortez declined to run for the committee post, "a number of young, ambitious members could mount bids, including Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Ro Khanna of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, and Robert Garcia of California."
Connolly, now 75, sought the House leadership role despite an esophageal cancer diagnosis he disclosed in November. Last Monday, he said in a letter to constituents that "I want to begin by thanking you for your good wishes and compassion as I continue to tackle my diagnosis. Your outpouring of love and support has given me strength in my fights—both against cancer and in our collective defense of democracy."
"When I announced my diagnosis six months ago, I promised transparency," Connolly continued. "After grueling treatments, we've learned that the cancer, while initially beaten back, has now returned. I'll do everything possible to continue to represent you and thank you for your grace."
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The panel's far-right chair, James Comer (R-Ky.), said in response to last week's announcement that "I'm saddened to hear that Ranking Member Connolly's cancer has returned. He is a steadfast public servant who has spent his career serving Northern Virginians with honor and integrity. It's an honor to serve the American people alongside him and I am rooting for him as he battles cancer once again. Our prayers are with Ranking Member Connolly and his family."
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One critic said the Salvadoran president "wants to silence" the acclaimed digital news site El Faro "because they're shattering the myths of the Bukele administration."
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An internationally acclaimed digital news outlet in El Salvador said Monday that the administration of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is preparing to arrest a number of its journalists following the publication of an interview with two former gang leaders who shed new light on a power-sharing agreement with the U.S.-backed leader and self-described "world's coolest dictator."
"A reliable source in El Salvador told El Faro that the Bukele-controlled Attorney General's Office is preparing at least seven arrest warrants for members of El Faro," the outlet reported. "The source reached out following the publication of an interview with two former leaders of the 18th Street Revolucionarios on Bukele's yearslong relationship to gangs."
"If carried out, the warrants are the first time in decades that prosecutors seek to press charges against individual journalists for their journalistic labors," El Faro added.
Bukele responded to the interview in a Friday evening post on the social media site X that read in part, "It's clear that a country at peace, without deaths, without extortion, without bloodshed, without corpses every day, without mothers mourning their children, is not profitable for human rights NGOs, nor for the globalist media, nor for the elites, nor for [George] Soros."
While the pact between Bukele and gang leaders is well-known in El Salvador, El Faro—which has long been a thorn in the president's side—was the first media outlet to air video of gangsters acknowledging the agreement.
As El Faro reported:
At the heart of the threat of arrests is irony: El Faro was only able to interview the two Revolucionarios because they escaped El Salvador with the complicity of Bukele.
One, who goes by "Liro Man," recounts that he was taken to Guatemala, through a blind spot in the Salvadoran border, by Bukele gang negotiator Carlos Marroquín; the other, Carlos Cartagena, or "Charli," was arrested on a warrant in April 2022, early in the state of exception, but quickly released after the police received a call at the station and backed off.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Salvadorans were being rounded up without due process, on charges of belonging to gangs.
The video interview explains the dichotomy: For years, Salvadoran gang leaders cut covert deals with the entourage of Nayib Bukele. In their interview with El Faro, the two Revolucionarios say the FMLN party, to which the now-president belonged a decade ago, paid a quarter of a million dollars to the gangs during the 2014 campaign in exchange for vote coercion in gang-controlled communities, on behalf of Bukele for San Salvador mayor and Salvador Sánchez Cerén as president.
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Part of the deal was a tacit "no body, no crime" policy under which gang leaders agreed to hide their victims' corpses as Bukele boasted of a historic reduction in homicides in a country once known as the world's murder capital.
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In an ironic twist, the Trump administration deported gang members from the U.S. to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center prison who faced federal indictments that could have resulted in their testifying in court about the pact with Bukele.
Responding to the possible arrest warrants for El Faro staffers, Argentinian journalist Eliezer Budasoff said on social media Sunday that "it's clear" that El Salvador's leader "wants to silence" the outlet "because they're shattering the myths of the Bukele administration, simply with more journalism."
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"Every citizen must decide for themselves whether they want to be informed, or whether they prefer the blind loyalty this administration has demanded of its supporters since its first day in power," the outlet's editors wrote in 2022. "We don't have that choice. Our job is to report. We can't change the news, and we never will."
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Advocates for student protesters and other critics of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip celebrated on Monday after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel dropped all charges against seven people arrested last year at the University of Michigan amid allegations of bias that the Democrat rejected.
"When my office made the decision to issue charges of trespassing, and resisting and obstructing a police officer, in this matter, we did so based on the evidence and facts of the case. I stand by those charges and that determination," Nessel said in a statement. She then took aim at Ann Arbor District Judge Cedric Simpson.
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"Baseless and absurd allegations of bias have only furthered this divide," Nessel said. "The motion for recusal has been a diversionary tactic which has only served to further delay the proceedings. And now, we have learned that a public statement in support of my office from a local nonprofit has been directly communicated to the court. The impropriety of this action has led us to the difficult decision to drop these charges."
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The defendants—Oliver Kozler, Samantha Lewis, Henry MacKeen-Shapiro, Michael Mueller, Asad Siddiqui, Avi Tachna-Fram, and Rhiannon Willow—had pleaded not guilty. The Detroit Free Pressreported that one of Nessel's deputies, Robyn Liddell, made the motion to dismiss the case and the defendants "hugged each other, smiled, and posed for a photo with their attorneys in the courtroom."
According to the newspaper:
The courtroom was packed with spectators, many of them wearing keffiyehs. They burst into applause at the decision and began chants of "Free Palestine."
Amir Makled, who represented Lewis, said the charges never should have been brought.
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State Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-26) said on social media Monday: "This is great news. It takes courage to stand up for what is right. The charges should have never been pursued in the first place. I'm glad the students maintained their innocence and didn't accept a plea deal."
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) similarly declared, "Good news for our university student communities!"
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Union organizer Anne Elias said that "this prosecution was wrong and I think public pressure on Dana Nessel worked. I feel such relief for our students and community members, as this was a complete surprise for them today."
"[Democrats] largely own this mess, and we must identify the political entanglements—[especially] with President Ono resigning," Elias added, referring to Santa Ono, who is on track to leave his post at the University of Michigan to lead the University of Florida.
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