Amidst growing calls for a full investigation of torture of detainees in American custody, John Yoo, author of the most infamous of the Bush Department of Justice "torture memos," cancelled his scheduled appearance at the Federalist Society Convention, which starts today in Washington, DC. Yoo - who is currently the...

Alliance for Justice has released a new report on judicial selection in the first ten months of the Obama administration. An assessment of the steps taken by the administration and the Senate toward promoting equal justice for all, the report shows that not enough progress has been made so...

This week, I participated in a panel discussion about the Bush administration's "torture memos" with a former Bush administration official, Daniel Levin. And it turns out that he and I are in agreement about the need to investigate and hold accountable any government lawyers who violated their duties to uphold...

In order to provide closure to the dark period of torture in American history we must do more than President Obama's initial actions in office. He has ended the American torture of suspected terrorists arising from the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. He should be applauded for taking that step,...

ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis announced that former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger will lead an independent inquiry into the "organizational systems and processes" of the embattled group's social services, and said that ACORN will make public the results of that inquiry. This is an important step in getting this organization...

Will the Lawyers who wrote the Torture Memos be brought to justice?

Attorney General Eric Holder is a man on a seat that is hot and getting ever hotter. As the official with primary responsibility for cleaning up after George W. Bush's War on the Constitution, Holder faces challenges that...

By Alliance for Justice Legal Director Bill Yeomans

Judge Sonia Sotomayor may be hailed as the woman who saved baseball, but her hearings, along with those of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, are threatening real damage to the sport. Supreme Court nominee Judge Sotomayor's hearings will...

The Senate Judiciary Committee will convene Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. to begin the hearing on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to become an associate justice of the Supreme Court. The hearing will be a consequential moment in our history, but not so much because the confirmation of Judge Sotomayor is on...

The 2008-2009 term was certainly a busy one for the Supreme Court. It decided 79 cases, 23 of which, according to SCOTUSblog, were split 5-4. Of those 5-4 decisions, 16 were divided along ideological lines. A newly-available Alliance for Justice analysis of the term reveals that "the most...

You may have heard that Republicans in the U.S. Senate are blocking the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department, and you may be wondering, "So what?"

This actually matters. A lot.

The person who heads that office tells the...

With Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) switching to the Democratic Party, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has taken over as the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He will lead the charge on the Republican response to Obama's judicial and executive branch nominations.

Who is Senator Sessions?

He's...

One clear message from voters in the 2008 elections was that Americans want accountability from those at the top, whether it's the President of the United States, members of Congress, or corporate CEOs.

That's one reason it's so important to have an open debate about how to hold Jay Bybee...

The rumors have given way to reality. After months of speculation, Associate Justice David Souter has announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. While it is a time to reflect and look back upon his service to the country, it is also a time to look forward to examine the...

Take 6 minutes out of your day and watch a new video, Walmart Workers for Change. It shows as effectively as anything I've seen what's happened in America where we now have one set of rules for those at the top and another set for the rest of us....

The Lilly Ledbetter Act returned the law to what it had been for decades, before the Supreme Court intervened.

Now we need to pass new legislation the Paycheck Fairness Act S. 182 - and stand up for judges who uphold the Constitution and the law to provide equal justice...

This weekend two prominent conservatives added their voices to the calls to confirm Dawn Johnsen and Harold Koh. Douglas Kmiec and Kenneth Starr have come out in unequivocal support for Johnsen and Koh respectively.

Kmiec has long been a leading conservative legal scholar; he currently holds the...

The Iowa Supreme Court decision declaring the state's gay marriage ban unconstitutional is undeniably a victory. It's a victory for the LGBT community, a victory for equality and a reminder of the vitally important role judges and the courts play in upholding constitutional principles and defending freedoms.

Of course,...

Most of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Republican members boycotted the confirmation hearing on President Obama's first judicial nominee, Judge David Hamilton.

A few weeks ago, all 41 Republican Senators sent a letter to President Obama , threatening that they will use filibusters to prevent majority votes...

It looks like President Obama will begin leaving his mark on the federal bench -- and consequently on American law and life for decades to come -- sooner rather than later.

According to The New York Times, the White House is signaling that it may soon be ready...

Americans won a Supreme Court victory this week that underscored the urgent need for Congress to pass the Medical Device Safety Act that was introduced in both the House and Senate yesterday.

It's a good news, bad news story - and I'll start with the good news.

On Wednesday,...