Feminist Majority Opposes Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito

As you receive this issue of the Feminist Majority Report, the United States Senate is holding hearings on the nomination of Samuel Alito to fill Sandra Day O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court.

“Make no mistake about it – Samuel Alito is no O’Connor,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority. “If confirmed, Alito, nominated to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, could turn back the clock 40 years on women’s rights and civil rights.”

The Feminist Majority is part of a broad coalition of leading national organizations opposed to the confirmation of Samuel Alito – almost 60 major women’s rights, civil rights, labor, environmental, disability rights, and lesbian and gay rights groups have announced their opposition at the time of this writing.

Alito could very well be the decisive vote on abortion rights, the Family and Medical Leave Act, protections against sex and race discrimination law, and other rights and protections American citizens hold dear. This is a judge who saw nothing wrong in the strip search of a ten-year-old girl.

IIn a 1985 job application to serve as deputy assistant attorney general under Reagan, Alito wrote that his interest in constitutional law developed “in large part by disagreement with Warren Court decisions, particularly in the areas of criminal procedure, the Establishment Clause, and reapportionment,” ie., one person, one vote.

IIn the same job application, Alito wrote that, working in the Solicitor General’s office under Reagan, he was “particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that ... the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion” (emphasis added).

IIn a memorandum Alito wrote while serving in the Reagan Justice Department. Alito mapped out a strategy to chip away at Roe, a strategy that would provide “greater recognition of the states’ interest in protecting the unborn throughout pregnancy” while not even “tacitly conced[ing] Roe’s legitimacy.” This is exactly the strategy that anti-abortion legislators have been following for the past 20-some years.

IIn the memorandum, Alito used language blurring the distinction between abortion and birth control – he posed the extraordinary and shocking question: “What, for example is the objection to informing a woman that certain methods of birth control are ‘abortifacients,’ i.e., that they do not prevent fertilization but terminate the development of the fetus after conception?”

This revelation shows not only abortion – but even some forms of birth control – may be in jeopardy with the Alito appointment.

With so much at stake, women, especially young women, must be the strongest voices in the Supreme Court debate. That’s why the Feminist Majority Foundation, sister organization of the Feminist Majority, has launched Freedom Winter ’06.

IIn the spirit of Freedom Summer 1964, when droves of college students traveled to Mississippi to register African Americans to vote, the Feminist Majority Foundation is teaming up with the National Organization for Women (NOW) to recruit student leaders and activists from around the country to come to Washington , DC from January 3 to January 20, 2006 .

“The Senate needs to see that young people are willing to fight to protect their rights,” said Crystal Lander, director of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campus Program. “Young women will not accept a Supreme Court nominee who would roll back their reproductive rights.”

Student activists who travel to DC for all or part of Freedom Winter ’06 will be part of an exciting, historic campaign to save the Supreme Court. These young leaders will help plan and execute public education events such as rallies and information briefings, create visibility on Capitol Hill against Alito, attend confirmation hearings, work with campus, local, and statewide media to generate coverage of the Freedom Winter ’06 campaign, and more.

“This is it – the fight to save the Supreme Court for women’s rights and civil rights for a generation,” said Smeal. “We must urge our supporters in the Senate to do whatever it takes, including filibustering, to stop Alito from becoming the decisive vote on the Supreme Court for turning back the clock on women’s rights.”

Take Action! Contact your Democratic Senators and urge them to do whatever it takes to defeat Alito. The Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

Feminist Majority Launches Congressional Council

The Feminist Majority is launching an all-new and very much needed Congressional Council. The Council is composed of Feminist Majority volunteer Congressional district coordinators and contacts, who will visit with and call members of Congress in their district or state on key legislation and policies affecting women.

Each Congressional Council coordinators will build a district network of constituents on urgent feminist issues. The network will be mobilized at critical times to impact policies affecting women’s rights and lives.

As the Feminist Majority Report goes to print, the Council already has recruited 54 Congressional Council coordinators in 21 states. By the end of 2006, the Feminist Majority plans to have coordinators in 225 Congressional districts.

Throughout the year, Congressional coordinators and contacts will receive special emails and/or faxes, in-depth mailings, phone calls, and periodic conference calls with the most pressing, up-to-date information regarding the Feminist Majority’s legislative activities. In turn, the coordinators will share the information they gather with the Congressional Council.

The Council is being launched with a campaign to Stop Alito. The Feminist Majority is mobilizing our new Congressional coordinators to contact their Senators during the holiday recess to urge them to save the Supreme Court for women’s rights and lives by blocking Alito’s nomination.

IIf you or someone you know is interested in joining the Feminist Majority Congressional Council, please call 703-522-2214 and ask for Alice Cohan, or email council@feministmajority.org.

Editor of Afghan Women’s Magazine Tried, Jailed

IIn a blow to both women’s rights and freedom of the press in Afghanistan, Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, the male editor of a magazine titled Haqooq-i-zan (Women’s Rights), was arrested in Kabul on October 1. The charges involved publishing articles contrary to Islam, including questioning the severe punishments for adultery, thievery and murder under sharia (Islamic) law.

The Primary Court in Kabul convicted Nasab on charges of blasphemy and sentenced him to two years in prison. Nasab, who was reportedly arrested at the urging of Mohaiuddin Baluch, a religious advisor to President Hamid Karzai, was the first journalist convicted for blasphemy by a Kabul court since the fall of the Taliban regime. Mavis Leno, chair of the Feminist Majority’s Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls, said, “This is of grave concern. Freedom of speech is fundamental to women’s rights and democracy.”

Following Nasab’s sentencing, so-called religious leaders began issuing calls for harsher punishments. The Shiite Council of Ulema (Islamic scholars) issued a fatwa calling for Nasab’s execution, and the Supreme Court in Afghanistan issued a fatwa saying Nasab “should be given the harshest punishment, so he will be a lesson to others,” according to the Post. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on President Karzai to intervene in Nasab’s case, which is currently being appealed.

The Feminist Majority is urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Under Secretary for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky to actively aid Nasab’s appeal and urge the global community to do the same.

Violence Against Women Act Passes Congress

The U.S. House and Senate reached an agreement in late December on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), sending it to the President, who as of press time was expected to sign it into law. This landmark legislation, which the Feminist Majority helped lead the fight to pass in 1994 and renew in 2000, was set to expire at the end of 2005.

The bill, approved as part of the Justice Department budget, reauthorizes funding for VAWA for the next five years at nearly $4 billion, a level 21 percent greater than the version of VAWA passed in 2000. The reauthorization broadens efforts to combat violence against women with more focus on prevention strategies, culturally specific services, and enhanced services for victims with disabilities, and it broadens services to include children and teenagers.

The Feminist Majority, along with the National Organization for Women and other women’s rights and domestic violence organizations, worked to ensure that VAWA would be renewed.

“Thanks to the vigilance of the women’s rights community, not to mention Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), the original Senate sponsor of the bill, VAWA remains a crucial tool to ending violence against women and ensuring a better law enforcement response to domestic violence,” said Margaret Moore, Director of FMF’s National Center for Women and Policing.

Afghan Women Vote and Run for Office Amid Violence and Threats

Afghanistan’s parliamentary election, which was postponed twice due to security concerns, finally took place in September. Although the major disruption of the election that was threatened did not occur, 12 people were killed on election day as a result of attacks by suspected Taliban fighters. Most reports lauded the relatively peaceful election day, reflecting the low expectations for safety in the country.

Prior to the election much of the violence and intimidation was directed at women, especially women candidates. Overall, eight candidates were assassinated by Taliban forces and other militia groups, with one candidate killed just four days before the election. At least one woman candidate and one woman elections worker were shot prior to the election.

Despite the severe threats and intimidation by warlords and the Taliban, women still registered to vote, comprising 44 percent of new registrants. Women also accounted for 328 of the 2,707 candidates for seats in the House of People, where the constitution guarantees them at least 68 seats or 25 percent. In the election for the provincial councils there were 247 women running out of a total of 3,025 candidates. The provincial councils will elect a third of the delegates to the House of Elders (upper house of parliament), where women are guaranteed 12 percent of the seats.

Women candidates ran strong, and will fill the seats guaranteed them. Warlords and their allies, however, were elected to about 60 percent of the seats in the House of People (lower house of parliament) and some 80 percent of the new provincial council seats.

Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, who has been accused by Human Rights Watch of war crimes, was among the winning candidates, as was the former Taliban governor of the Bamiyan province who oversaw the destruction of two 1,500-year-old Buddha statues. Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “Many of the winners are linked to armed groups or drugs… The number of elected lawmakers who are honest and interested in reform may be tiny compared to the regional strongmen who are interested in themselves.”

Violence has not abated since the election, as newly elected legislators are now being targeted. Two legislators have been killed since the September 18 elections. The overall level of violence and the nature of recent attacks are raising grave concerns. Suicide bombings, which were rare occurrences in Afghanistan, are increasing significantly, with nine such attacks at the end of 2005. The current situation is being called the bloodiest in the country since the U.S. took control of Kabul in 2001.

The Feminist Majority is working to increase funding for reconstruction and women’s programs in Afghanistan, as well as increased international peacekeeping troops.