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Scott Simpson, 202.466.2061, simpson@civilrights.org
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in advance of Mississippi's anticipated passage of HB 1523, a bill that would allow discrimination against LGBT people on religious grounds. This week, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed similar religious refusal bills.
Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in advance of Mississippi's anticipated passage of HB 1523, a bill that would allow discrimination against LGBT people on religious grounds. This week, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed similar religious refusal bills. The Leadership Conference Education Fund recently issued a report called "Striking A Balance: Advancing Civil and Human Rights While Preserving Religious Liberty" that documents how religious arguments are used to deny civil and human rights to people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, and LGBT people:
"Governor Bryant should reconsider his position and veto HB 1523, a bill that would create a religious-based license to discriminate against the LGBT community in Mississippi. Religious liberty is meant to be a sacred shield to protect people from discrimination, not a sword to deny civil rights and equality to others.
Mississippi has been down this road before.
Ross Barnett, a former Mississippi governor, once used religion to justify Jim Crow laws by calling God 'the original segregationist.' Religious arguments have also been used in our nation to oppose women's suffrage, interracial marriage, the acceptance of Asian immigrants, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the abolition of slavery.
Bryant should learn the lessons of his fellow southern governors. This week, Virginia and Georgia's governors vetoed similar legislation and were praised throughout their states and the nation, while North Carolina's governor signed an anti-LGBT bill that made his state a national embarrassment.
Bryant's choice is clear: Either follow the path of progress or turn back the clock to the time of Ross Barnett. The civil rights community strongly urges him to veto HB 1523."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals.
(202) 466-3311"Our message to Brazil is one of hope and reconstruction," declared newly sworn-in president as hundreds of thousands took to the streets to welcome the leftist leader back.
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Brazil on Sunday to celebrate the inauguration of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose return to the nation's highest office also marked the exit of far-right Jair Bolsonaro who left his country and arrived in the U.S. state of Florida ahead of the weekend's transfer of power.
After being sworn in during a ceremony at the National Congress, Lula addressed the assembled lawmakers as he lamented the "terrible ruins" left by Bolsonaro, though he did not actually mention his predecessor by name. But Lula also issued a message of renewal and hope.
"Our message to Brazil is one of hope and reconstruction," Lula said in the speech. "The great edifice of rights, sovereignty, and development that this nation built has been systematically demolished in recent years. To re-erect this edifice, we are going to direct all our efforts."
"Democracy was the big winner in this election," he declared. "Long live democracy! Love live the Brazilian people!"
Following his call for reconstruction, he vowed to "rebuild the nation and make a Brazil of all, for all."
Lula, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2010, beat Bolsonaro in a highly-contentious election in October amid concerns that the incumbent—often compared to former U.S. president Donald Trump—would not ultimately concede or relinquish the office.
Supporters of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva queue at a security checkpoint as they wait to enter the Esplanada dos Ministerios to attend his inauguration ceremony in Brasilia on January 1, 2023. - Lula da Silva, a 77-year-old leftist who already served as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, takes office for the third time with a grand inauguration in Brasilia.
(Photo by DOUGLAS MAGNO/AFP via Getty Images)
In the capital city of BrasÃlia on Sunday, throngs of Lula supporters were seen in the streets ahead of a presidential motorcade bringing the returning president to his swearing-in ceremony.
\u201cThe scene in Bras\u00edlia a few hours before Lula's inauguration. \nSupporters still streaming onto the esplanade.\u201d— BRASILWIRE (@BRASILWIRE) 1672585711
Music and dancing in the streets added to a festive atmosphere even as a strong security presence acted as a reminder of the reluctance by Bolsonaro and his right-wing supporters to admit defeat at the polls. As the Washington Postreports:
the carnival-like party on New Year's Day comes against a tense backdrop, as supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro remain camped outside army barracks here and across the country, calling for a military overthrow of the incoming government to keep their candidate in office.
The threat of potential violence not far from the Planalto Palace, where Lula will be sworn in for a third term as president of Latin America's most populous country, is a stark reminder of the division in the country he is now tasked with governing.
With Bolsonaro seeking refuge in Florida amid investigations into his political dealings and possible corruption during his time in office, the New York Times notes that this means "there will be no ceremonial passing of the presidential sash on Sunday, an important symbol of the peaceful transition of power in a nation where many people still recall the 21-year military dictatorship that ended in 1985."
\u201cLula's car is now en route to recieve the presidential sash.\u201d— BRASILWIRE (@BRASILWIRE) 1672594817
Interviewed by the Associated Press on Saturday, Lula supporter Eduardo Coutinho, who traveled from his home to Brasilia for the inauguration, said the ousted far-rights president's departure is nearly as sweet as Lula's return.
"I wish I were here when Bolsonaro's plane took off, that is the only thing that makes me almost as happy as tomorrow's event," Coutinho said. "I'm not usually so over-the-top, but we need to let it out and I came here just to do that. Brazil needs this to move on."
"What we have in this country is really disgraceful" when it comes to healthcare, says the U.S. senator from Vermont.
Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a New Year's Day message on Sunday as he gets ready to take over as chair of the powerful Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the U.S. Senate when Congress comes back into session later this month.
Laying out his priorities for the committee in 2023, Sanders put a familiar focus on the need for an improved and expanded Medicare system and lower drug costs as he lambasted the nation's "cruel and dysfunctional" for-profit system that leaves tens of millions of people uninsured or grossly underinsured.
"What we have in this country is really disgraceful" in terms of healthcare, Sanders says in the video address posted to YouTube and shared on social media.
Fixing the nation's healthcare system, he said, is "an issue, together, we are going to have to work on. We must have the courage to stand up to the greed and recklessness of the insurance companies and the drug companies" who continue to oppose progressive reforms, including the push for Medicare for All.
"We have to work to substantially lower the cost of prescription drugs," Sanders added, "and we have got to work to guarantee healthcare as a human right for all of our people, not a privilege."
Watch the full video:
Happy New Year. Here’s what’s on my mind for 2023.youtu.be
On education, Sanders blasted that the richest nation on Earth—which somehow manages to provide "massive tax breaks to the billionaire class—still allows its heroic teachers to struggle in underfunded schools that disadvantages all children trying to learn. He also criticized a higher education system that has saddled an estimated 45 million college students and their families with outrageous levels of debt.
With labor the other key area of jurisdiction for the committee he will soon be leading, Sanders lamented in his address the existence of a "very rigged economy with unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality" that is hurting working families in favor of making life better the already rich and powerful.
"I'm thinking about a country today where at this moment workers all across this country—at Starbucks, Amazon, nurses at hospitals, workers at factories, young people at college campuses—they are organizing unions in order to receive better wages and working continues, because they know, at the end of the day, that unity—bringing people together for collective bargaining—is the only way that many workers are going to get the benefits, wages, and working conditions that they so desperately need."
With that context, Sanders said these workers in unions or those trying to organize a new union are being "vigorously" opposed by corporate bosses using "fierce and illegal anti-union action."
Countering those anti-union efforts by Starbucks, Amazon, and other major employers, he said, will be something he intends to do from his chair position.
Acknowledging political realities, however, Sanders said he knows very well that he will not have the power to simply pound his gavel of the new committee "and lo and behold all these important pieces of legislation get passed."
"It ain't gonna happen that way, that's for sure," said Sanders. While admitting that Republicans and certain "conservative Democrats" are not going to be supportive of his progressive agenda, Sanders said, "That doesn't mean we give up on these issues. We're going to take these issues to the people and continue the fight.
Despite partisan opposition on many things, Sanders said he has genuine hope that some progress can be made on things like reducing the cost of prescription drugs and childcare in the upcoming session.
In the end, Sanders called on listeners to join together in the battles to come in the new year "as we stand up and fight to make sure that working families in this country can live with the kind of dignity and security that they are entitled to."
"You want to 'preserve #SCOTUS history'?'" said one watchdog group. "Hire a curatorial staff. Don't run a pay-for-play."
Both alarm and concern were expressed Saturday in response to new reporting about a charitable group with close ties to the U.S. Supreme Court that has been soliciting and accepting donations from corporate interests and far-right activists with cases before the court.
The New York Timesexposé focused on the activities and fundraising of the Supreme Court Historical Society, a nonprofit that claims its mission is "dedicated to the collection and preservation" of the Court's history.
While the group refused to disclose its donors to the Times, reporters from the newspaper determine that much of the funding came from powerful companies like Chevron, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, and Facebook as well as anti-abortion activists like Rev. Rob Schenck.
According to the newspaper:
The society has raised more than $23 million over the last two decades. Because of its nonprofit status, it does not have to publicly disclose its donors—and declined when asked to do so. But The New York Times was able to identify the sources behind more than $10.7 million raised since 2003, the first year for which relevant records were available.
At least $6.4 million—or 60 percent—came from corporations, special interest groups, or lawyers and firms that argued cases before the court, according to an analysis of archived historical society newsletters and publicly available records that detail grants given to the society by foundations. Of that, at least $4.7 million came from individuals or entities in years when they had a pending interest in a federal court case on appeal or at the high court, records show.
In the case of Chevron, the oil giant actively gave to the society even as it had a pending climate litigation working its way through the court.
In response to the new revelations, public interest attorney Steven Donzinger, who was himself targeted by Chevron for his work aimed at holding the company to account for its polluting activities in Ecuador, said the implications were "horrifying."
"Why are these conflicts allowed?" asked Donzinger.
Others quoted by the Times said the effort by people like Rev. Schenck, who admits to using the charitable group as a way to get other anti-abortion activists closer to the justices, creates a clear conflict of interest.
Charles Fried, a Harvard Law professor who once served as solicitor general in the Reagan administration and counts himself a donor to the Historical Society, told the newspaper was so "horrified" by Schenck's behavior that he may no longer give.
"It's disgusting," Fried said. "Many of the people who contribute have the same reasons I do. You go to a cocktail party and support a good cause. But it turns out that for some people it's not that innocent."
While the Times notes that the Historical Society is "ostensibly independent of the judicial branch of government," the reality is that "the two are inextricably intertwined," with court justices serving as chair of the board and hosting gala events where exclusive access is reportedly part of the allure.
The left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said the reporting raises "significant questions" about the group which has "raked in millions—a significant chunk of it from groups with cases before the Court" over the last two decades.
Fix the Court, which acts as a watchdog organization for the U.S. Supreme Court, said the justification for the Historical Society's existence just doesn't hold water.
\u201cThere should not be an organization in existence that, via donations, gives people direct access to the justices.\n\nYou want to \u201cpreserve #SCOTUS history\u201d?\n\nHire a curatorial staff. Don\u2019t run a pay-for-play.\u201d— Fix the Court (@Fix the Court) 1672489256
And Gabe Roth, the group's executive director, told the Times that if money was an issue for funding such a project it would be the best solution—one free of ethical concerns—for Congress to simply appropriate the money needed to maintain the history of the Court.