The October 2008 Supreme Court Term (OT08) has come to an end.   After deciding 79 cases (up from 71 in OT07 and 72 in OT06), the Justices have hung up their robes for the summer and Justice Souter said goodbye to the Court forever. 

By many measures, OT08 was more similar to OT06 (one of the most divisive terms in Supreme Court history) than to OT07.  For example, in OT08, 29% of the cases were decided by a 5-4 majority as compared to 33% in OT06 and only 17% in OT07.  And, the Court reversed or vacated the lower court in 76% of cases this term as compared to 73% in OT07 and only 66% in OT07.

Continue reading "OT08 is O-V-E-R" »

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Filed under: Courts, Judicial Nominations, Supreme Court

Julie Bressler is a participant in the RAC's Machon Kaplan summer program for college students. She is a student at Washington University in St. Louis and an intern at the National Education Association.

At our Tuesday night Machon Kaplan class, we were asked to reflect on our first few weeks in Washington. We talked about our internships, our DC explorations, and our lack of sleep. To conclude our discussion, our group leaders told us about Abraham Joshua Heschel's trip to Selma, Alabama, to walk with Martin Luther King Jr. When asked why he came to Selma, Heschel replied, "When I march in Selma, my feet are praying." What does it mean to pray with your feet?

Continue reading "Praying With Your Feet" »

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Filed under: Education, Machon Kaplan, The RAC

After over 80 rabbis joined together to fast for Sudan on June 18th, they agreed that they wanted to do more to keep the international, and their local, community focused on the humanitarian situation in Darfur.

Together they decided to do a rolling fast, with rabbis and cantors invited each to pick one day between now and Rosh Hashanah to do a one day water-only fast and to alert their communities and elected officials to the ongoing suffering in Darfur. A fast sign-up, resources to write a letter to the editor and spread the word, and a clergy sign-on letter are all available here.

Continue reading "Fasting Together for Darfur" »

Posted by Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Filed under: Darfur, Events, Foreign Affairs, RAC

Last week the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission issued its 259-page report on the disturbing prevalence of sexual abuse in our nation's prisons. The Commission, established under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (which was drafted with the help of the RAC and which Rabbi Saperstein testified in favor of) called for a number of standards to be put into place and for specific steps to be taken.

Continue reading "Ending Prison Rape" »

Posted by Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Filed under: Criminal Justice, RAC

Sorry folks, this is not a post about a great new summer movie!

Many people have heard of the military-industrial complex which President Eisenhower warned against. In reality, this nexus includes Congress, where Representatives and Senators whose districts include military contractors and suppliers staff the relevant committees and work to protect these interests.

These relationships are well-known and understood, though rarely critically examined. Over time, military suppliers such as Lockheed Martin have become adept at dividing their production throughout many districts and states to help ensure support for their projects. Production of the F-22 raptor, for example, "relies on parts contributed by some 1,000 suppliers spread across 44 states."

Continue reading "The Zombie Raptor Rises Again" »

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Filed under: Legislative Issues, Military Affairs, RAC, The RAC

In Israel's general elections in February, Avigdor Lieberman and his ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party won 15 Knesset seats, eventually becoming the second party in the government coalition with Lieberman as Foreign Minister.

Their electoral campaign featured disturbing demagoguery and egregious racism, including slogans such as "No loyalty, no citizenship" and "Only Lieberman understands Arabic."

For the most part, American Jewish leaders refrained from speaking out against Lieberman. Nathan Guttman in the Forward reported that "Jewish Leaders Largely Silent on Lieberman's Role In Government: But One Prominent U.S. Rabbi Criticizes 'Hate-Filled Campaign"

That rabbi is Union for Reform Judaism President Eric Yoffie, who declared in "Confronting Our Demagogue" that We do not make excuses for the haters, the bigots and the demagogues who incite against Jews and other minorities around the world, and we must not make excuses when the inciter is one of our own.

Rabbi Yoffie wrote that the rise of Lieberman presented a "significant test" to American Jewish leaders and urged that they not remain "silent or speak the language of equivocation."

Last week's publication by the JTA of an op-ed by Gila Orkin of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) is a sign that American Jewish leaders appear to be failing the test thus far.

Orkin's op-ed is a call for Jewish leaders to take a stand against the extremism and racism propagated by Israel's far right.

Continue reading "Challenging Extremism Everywhere" »

Posted by Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Filed under: Foreign Affairs, Israel, Middle East, RAC, The RAC

Elyssa Pfeffer is a participant in the RAC's Machon Kaplan summer program for college students. She is a student at Emory University and an intern at the Food Research and Action Center.

Making connections with others and with one's work are important aspects of life. Since arriving in Washington, I have been able to make connections with several of the Machon Kaplan participants. I feel as though I can talk to them about anything, from what we plan on doing the upcoming weekend to our feelings about policies being debated in the House or Senate. Judaism, as a religion, has a deep focus on the connections that one has with family. As time has gone by since starting this program, I have been fortunate enough to build a sort of family of friends with whom I am able to feel a Jewish connection, no matter the context of the situation.

Continue reading "The Importance of Making Connections" »

Posted by Religious Action Center at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Filed under: Children's Issues, Hunger, Machon Kaplan, Poverty, The RAC

Josh Handel is a participant in the RAC's Machon Kaplan summer program for college students. He is a student at Indiana University and an intern at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Disoriented, befuddled, puzzled, disconcerted: These are all feelings and emotions that I have identified with during the initial two weeks of my social justice-oriented internship. Despite this, the Machon Kaplan Program, in addition to my internship with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP), has already exposed me to amazing experiences. However, when presented with such a wealth of information along with the many different responsibilities given to a new intern (which have all occurred in such a short time), it's difficult not to feel overwhelmed when trying to my your specific role in D.C.'s activism scene. I hope this blog entry will comfort other likeminded, neurotic interns (I'm telling myself that I am not the only one) who want to get the most out of their internships and feel as though we all can become active practitioners of social justice.

Continue reading "Intro to Social Justice 101: Finding Your Place" »

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Filed under: Civil Liberties, Death Penalty, Machon Kaplan, The RAC

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to wait until the start of the next term to rule on Troy Davis's appeal for a new trial which was filed "after a lower federal court denied his request."  This means that the state of Georgia cannot set another execution date until after the Court issues its ruling, granting Mr. Davis yet another reprieve.  Davis's attorney said the Court's postponement "sends a clear message from the justices that the case needs to be resolved in Georgia not by the Supreme Court," which is exactly what many groups have been pushing for.  

Just this morning, a petition was delivered to the Chatham County District Attorney with more than 60,000 signatures, 11,000 from the County itself, asking that Mr. Davis's case be reopened.   Also this morning, the Associate Press published a story in which they tracked down some of the original jurors in the case.  At least four of the 12 jurors said "in interviews or affidavits" that "they were having second thoughts based on claims by Davis's attorneys that key witnesses have backed away from their court testimony."  And these four jurors are not alone.  Troy Davis's supporters range from "the Vatican to the European parliament, from former President Jimmy Carter to Archbishop Desmond Tutu."  The NAACP recently launched a website, www.iamtroy.org and I encourage you to check out the list of things you can do to help save Troy Davis.  

Posted by Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Filed under: Death Penalty

Last Friday, the House voted 219-212 to pass the first piece of comprehensive climate and energy legislation to make it through either chamber of Congress...ever. It was a true nail-biter, with floor debate over the American Clean Energy and Security Act raging into Friday evening and last-minute compromises required to secure the final handful of votes. This historic day followed weeks of negotiations, through late nights and early mornings, and may have taught me more than I had learned about politics in the preceding ten months. But in the interest of time (both the author's and the readers'!), here are just the top 3 lessons I learned from the House debate...

Continue reading "All ACES - Lessons Learned from Last Week's House Climate Debate" »

Posted by Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Filed under: Climate Change, Current Events, Domestic Issues, Energy Policy, Environment, Going Green