May, 12 2017, 09:45am EDT

ACLU to Jeff Sessions: Repeating The Failed War on Drugs Experiment Is Taking the Nation Back by Decades
Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed the criminal justice policy by former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. that instructed prosecutors to avoid charging certain defendants with drug offenses that would prompt long mandatory minimum sentences. Sessions' memo directs his federal prosecutors to charge defendants with the most serious, provable crimes carrying the most severe penalties.
Udi Ofer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Campaign for Smart Justice, had this reaction:
NEW YORK
Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed the criminal justice policy by former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. that instructed prosecutors to avoid charging certain defendants with drug offenses that would prompt long mandatory minimum sentences. Sessions' memo directs his federal prosecutors to charge defendants with the most serious, provable crimes carrying the most severe penalties.
Udi Ofer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Campaign for Smart Justice, had this reaction:
"Jeff Sessions is pushing federal prosecutors to reverse progress and repeat a failed experiment -- the War on Drugs -- that has devastated the lives and rights of millions of Americans, ripping apart families and communities and setting millions, particularly Black people and other people of color, on a vicious cycle of incarceration.
"With overall crime rates at historic lows, it is clear that this type of one-dimensional criminal justice system that directs prosecutors to give unnecessarily long and unfairly harsh sentences to people whose behavior does not call for it did not work. It failed for 40 years, and from the halls of state legislatures to the ballot box, the American people have said with a clear voice that they want commonsense reforms to sentencing policy, and not a return to the draconian policies that have already cost us too much."
This statement is online here:
https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-jeff-sessions-repeating-failed-war-drugs-experiment-taking-nation-back-decades
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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'Victory for Working People': Judge Blocks Trump Attack on Public Employee Unions
"We applaud this ruling as a critical defense of our communities and our rights at work," said the head of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Jun 26, 2025
A federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from ending collective bargaining rights for federal employees whose work the administration says includes national security aspects. The union plaintiffs in the case hailed the decision as a "victory for working people."
"This executive order is a direct effort to silence federal workers' voice on the job—an essential freedom that helps maintain the integrity of our democracy," wrote Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, one of the unions that brought the lawsuit.
"Federal workers serve every community, and targeting them through political retribution threatens the freedom of all working people to fight for fair treatment. We applaud this ruling as a critical defense of our communities and our rights at work," Saunders said.
On March 27, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order with the aim of terminating collective bargaining with federal labor unions across many federal agencies, including the U.S. State Department, the Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission, and the General Services Administration. These agencies, according to the executive order, are "determined to have as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work."
Under federal law, the president is authorized to exclude agencies and subdivisions of agencies if those are the agency's primary function.
In an accompanying fact sheet, the White House called out "certain federal unions" which have "declared war on President Trump's agenda."
According to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the executive order impacts nearly a million federal employees.
In April, six unions that represent federal workers, including AFGE, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, arguing that that the executive order unconstitutionally retaliates against the union plaintiffs for their activities opposing Trump, which they argue is protected First Amendment activity.
In their complaint, the unions said that the Trump administration erred when it applied the national security exemption to workers whose jobs are not related to national security.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato highlighted the White House fact sheet published alongside the order: "The fact sheet called out federal unions for vocal opposition to President Trump's agenda. It condemned unions who criticized the president and expressed support only for unions who toed the line. It mandated the dissolution of long-standing collective bargaining rights and other workplace protections for federal unions deemed oppositional to the president."
"All of this is solid evidence of a tie between the exercise of First Amendment rights and a government sanction," he wrote.
Donato also noted Trump "applied the national security label to an unprecedented swath of federal agencies, including whole cabinet departments for the first time in history."
David J. Holway, national president of National Association of Government Employees, another plaintiff, said that "this executive order isn't about national security. President Trump is punishing NAGE and other unions for protecting the rights of workers and standing up to the administration’s unlawful actions. The court made it clear: national security cannot be used as a smokescreen to silence federal workers. No president is above the law."
According to CNN, the judge's decision on Tuesday clashes with a ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in May lifted a different judge's block on the same executive order, in a case brought by a separate union.
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'People Will Die,' Warn Progressives as Supreme Court Lets States Defund Planned Parenthood
"This is a systematic decimation of access to reproductive healthcare and a signifier of what else is likely to come," warned one critic.
Jun 26, 2025
In its latest blow to reproductive healthcare in the United States, the Supreme Court's right-wing supermajority on Thursday blocked Planned Parenthood and one of its patients from suing South Carolina over its defunding of the medical provider because it performs abortions—a decision that critics say will cost lives as more Republican-controlled states follow suit.
At question in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic was whether Medicaid beneficiaries can sue in order to secure healthcare services under a law that allows patients to choose any qualified provider. The high court ruled 6-3 that they cannot, with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.
"The decision whether to let private plaintiffs enforce a new statutory right poses delicate questions of public policy. New rights for some mean new duties for others," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority. "And private enforcement actions, meritorious or not, can force governments to direct money away from public services and spend it instead on litigation."
"The job of resolving how best to weigh those competing costs and benefits belongs to the people's elected representatives, not
unelected judges charged with applying the law as they find it," Gorsuch added.
Concurring with the majority, far-right Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the ruling invites further scrutiny of Section 1983, the federal law empowering individuals to sue state and local government officials for violating their constitutional rights.
And, predictably, in Medina, Justice Thomas isn't content to axe Planned Parenthood from Medicaid. He would go further ... "to reexamine more broadly this Court’s §1983 jurisprudence . . . ."This is an invitation to undermine a major foundation of civil rights litigation.
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— Melissa Murray (@profmmurray.bsky.social) June 26, 2025 at 7:17 AM
In a furious dissent, Jackson wrote that "the court's decision today is not the first to so weaken the landmark civil rights protections that Congress enacted during the Reconstruction era."
"That means we do have a sense of what comes next: As with those past rulings, today's decision is likely to result in tangible harm to real people," she continued. "At a minimum, it will deprive Medicaid recipients in South Carolina of their only meaningful way of enforcing a right that Congress has expressly granted to them."
"And, more concretely, it will strip those South Carolinians—and countless other Medicaid recipients around the country—of a deeply personal freedom: the 'ability to decide who treats us at our most vulnerable,'" Jackson added. "The court today disregards Congress' express desire to prevent that very outcome."
More than 70 million Americans rely upon Medicaid, the federal government's primary health insurance program for lower-income people. The program is facing the prospect of major cuts under a Republican budget proposal that critics warn could cause millions of people to lose their healthcare coverage in service to a massive tax break backed by President Donald Trump that would disproportionately benefit the rich and corporations.
According to Planned Parenthood Federation of America president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, "currently, 20% of South Carolinians—over 1 million—receive healthcare services through the Medicaid program, and approximately 5% of those recipients sought sexual and reproductive health care services at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT) so far this year."
Responding to Thursday's ruling, McGill Johnson said that "the consequences are not theoretical in South Carolina or other states with hostile legislatures."
"Patients need access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and more. And right now, lawmakers in Congress are trying to 'defund' Planned Parenthood as part of their long-term goal to shut down Planned Parenthood and ban abortion nationwide," she added. "Make no mistake, the attacks are ongoing and Planned Parenthood will continue to do everything possible to show up in communities across the country and provide care."
Under tremendous Republican-led pressure, Planned Parenthood has closed or announced plans to close at least 20 locations across seven states since the beginning of the year.
"Today's decision is a grave injustice that strikes at the very bedrock of American freedom and promises to send South Carolina deeper into a healthcare crisis," PPSAT president and CEO Paige Johnson said following Thursday's decision. "Twice, justices of this court denied to even hear this case because [South Carolina Gov. Henry] McMaster's intent is clear: weaponize anti-abortion sentiment to deprive communities with low incomes of basic healthcare."
"Planned Parenthood South Atlantic will continue to operate and offer care in South Carolina, including for people enrolled in Medicaid," Johnson added. "To our patients, we will do everything in our power to ensure you can get the care you need at low or no cost to you. Know that we are still here for you, and we will never stop fighting for you to reclaim the rights and dignity you deserve."
Destiny Lopez, co-president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, called the ruling "a grave injustice."
Lopez continued:
At a time when healthcare is already costly and difficult to access, stripping patients of their right to high-quality, affordable healthcare at the provider of their choosing is a dangerous violation of bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.
Specifically targeting Planned Parenthood has long been a strategy of the anti-abortion movement. Planned Parenthood health centers are an irreplaceable part of the U.S. healthcare system; Guttmacher data show that among the 4.7 million contraceptive patients served by publicly supported clinics in 2020, one in three received care from Planned Parenthood.
"In the face of attempts to 'defund' Planned Parenthood and attack Medicaid, Title X, and other pillars of reproductive healthcare, the court's actions cannot be considered in a vacuum," Lopez asserted. "This is a systematic decimation of access to reproductive healthcare and a signifier of what else is likely to come. Everyone deserves choice in their healthcare provider and access to the family planning they need."
Progressive groups and individuals also condemned Thursday's ruling, with the Freedom From Religion Foundation lamenting that "Christian nationalists win, women and low-income patients lose."
"This isn't justice," FFRF added. "It's religious favoritism at the highest level."
Planned Parenthood provides affordable:➡ Cancer screening➡ STD testing and treatment➡ Prenatal supportToday's decision from SCOTUS to allow SC to remove Planned Parenthood from Medicaid means that people will be sicker and people will die.www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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— Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (@jayapal.house.gov) June 26, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Meagan Hatcher-Mays, senior adviser at United for Democracy, said in a statement that "millions of Medicaid patients across the country rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for their primary and reproductive care, and people who face systemic racism and discrimination—Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, as well as LGBTQ+ people and women—are more likely to be covered by Medicaid."
"It's ironic that the MAGA justices issued this ruling today, almost three years to the day that they overturned Roe v. Wade and threw abortion access into chaos across the country," Hatcher-Mays added. "Today's ruling is a further attack on healthcare, bodily autonomy, and our freedoms. This ruling clearly harms communities in South Carolina, and it's a matter of time before we see that harm expand further into the country."
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GOP Budget Bill Falling Apart as Senate Parliamentarian Strikes Dozens of Provisions
"With more decisions to come, this guidance results in more than $250 billion in healthcare cuts removed from the Republicans' big bad bill," said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden.
Jun 26, 2025
Key elements of the sprawling Republican budget package—including major components of its assault on Medicaid—are crumbling under scrutiny from Democratic staffers and the Senate parliamentarian, who has deemed dozens of provisions in violation of reconciliation rules.
On Thursday, Elizabeth MacDonough—who was appointed as parliamentarian in 2012 and has served under both Republican and Democratic leadership—advised against nine provisions of the GOP legislation that are under the Senate Finance Committee's jurisdiction.
One of the provisions seen as running afoul of the so-called Byrd Rule was the Senate GOP's proposal to sharply limit provider taxes that states use to fund their Medicaid programs—a change that experts said would result in catastrophic healthcare cuts.
Provisions targeted by the parliamentarian would be subject to a 60-vote threshold in the Senate if kept in the bill, meaning they would require Democratic support to pass. Republican leaders have indicated that they're rewriting some of the targeted provisions in an attempt to bring them into line with budget reconciliation rules, which bar provisions that don't have direct budgetary impacts.
"The parliamentarian has made clear that reconciliation can not be used to manipulate state provider tax policies, which would have resulted in massive Medicaid cuts that hurt kids, seniors, Americans with disabilities, and working families," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement Thursday following news of the parliamentarian's latest advisory rulings.
"With more decisions to come, this guidance results in more than $250 billion in healthcare cuts removed from the Republicans' big bad bill," said Wyden. "Democrats fought and won, striking healthcare cuts from this bill that would hurt Americans walking on an economic tightrope. This bill is rotten to its core, and I'll keep fighting the cuts in this morally bankrupt bill until the end."
Senate Budget Committee Democrats, led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), provided a summary of the latest provisions deemed in violation of reconciliation rules:
"Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families and workers," Merkley said in a statement Thursday. "Democrats are fighting back against Republicans' plans to gut Medicaid, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and kick kids, veterans, seniors, and folks with disabilities off of their health insurance—all to fund tax breaks for billionaires."
Under a behind-the-scenes process known as a "Byrd Bath," Senate committee staffers and the parliamentarian confer over whether a bill's provisions meet reconciliation guidelines.
In recent days, the parliamentarian has determined that dozens of provisions in the GOP legislation—including certain attacks on federal food aid, public lands, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—don't comply with the Byrd rule and must either be removed or face a 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber.
Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, praised minority staffers on the Senate Budget and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees on Wednesday after the parliamentarian ruled against six separate provisions of the GOP bill.
"Republicans just lost 10% of the affirmative savings they wanted to get in reconciliation. Truly in awe of the Bernie Sanders HELP staff and the Jeff Merkley Budget staff," Kogan, a former Senate Budget Committee staffer, wrote on social media.
In a Thursday post responding to the parliamentarian's latest decisions, Kogan wrote, "We won on trans care in Medicaid, provider taxes, [Federal Medical Assistance Percentage], immigrants in Medicaid, and other issues."
"These victories are amazing for the people they help—and cost Rs more than $250 billion of their savings by rough calculations, largely not curable," Kogan added.
Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee indicated Thursday that the parliamentarian is still reviewing a number of provisions, including a section of the Republican bill that would prohibit Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.
"Republicans are scrambling to rewrite parts of this bill to continue advancing their families lose and billionaires win agenda, but Democrats stand ready to fully scrutinize any changes and ensure the Byrd Rule is enforced," Merkley said Thursday.
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