Rights in the Balance: The Supreme Court and Social Justice
Session Type(s): Panel
Starts: Thursday, Jun. 20 12:00 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Thursday, Jun. 20 1:15 PM (Eastern)
The current term of the U.S. Supreme Court includes some of the most important cases in decades. By the end of the term—quite possibly just as Netroots Nation is getting underway—the Court will issue decisions that will have a huge impact on who can get married, who can vote and who can go to college. This panel will discuss these seminal cases affecting marriage equality, voting rights and affirmative action; propose action steps to build on favorable decisions and counter the impact of adverse decisions; and reinforce the urgent need to press the Obama administration for a progressive judiciary.
Moderator
Nan Aron
Nan Aron is the president and founder of Alliance for Justice, a national association of over 100 public interest and civil rights organizations. A leading voice in public interest law for over 30 years, Nan founded AFJ in 1979 and guides the organization in its mission to ensure that all Americans have the right and opportunity to secure justice in the courts and to have their voices heard when government makes decisions that affect their lives. Nan has taught at Georgetown and George Washington University law schools and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at American University’s Washington College of Law. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Panelists
Rick Jacobs
Rick is Chair and Founder of Courage Campaign, a California-based online organizing network of 750,000 members that pushes for progressive change and full equality. Rick chaired Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in California and served as Senior Advisor to Democracy for America. He also co-founded Brave New Films and served two terms as a director of the Liberty Hill Foundation. Rick is also a featured contributor to HuffingtonPost.com. Rick has a long background as an investor and senior executive.
Other sessions: The California Comeback: How Progressives Stopped California’s Decline
Thomas Saenz
Thomas A. Saenz is the President and General Counsel of MALDEF, where he leads the civil rights organization’s five offices in pursuing litigation, policy advocacy, and community education to promote the civil rights of Latinos living in the United States. Saenz re-joined MALDEF in August 2009, after spending four years on Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s executive team as Counsel to the Mayor. He previously spent 12 years at MALDEF practicing civil rights law as a staff attorney, regional counsel, and vice president of litigation. He served as MALDEF’s lead counsel in successfully challenging California’s anti-immigrant Proposition 187. Saenz graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School, and he clerked for two federal judges before initially joining MALDEF in 1993.