Boise, ID -- Today the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the City of Boise challenging a 70-year-old ordinance that unconstitutionally restricts the use of loudspeakers and megaphones in public spaces. The lawsuit asks Idaho’s federal court to halt enforcement of that ordinance and others like it because they violate First Amendment rights by restricting free speech and creating a "chilling effect" on protest.
Washington, DC – Leading climate and environmental organizations today applauded Senator Durbin, Senator Warnock, Senator Booker, Senator Blumenthal, Senator Butler, Leader Schumer, and all cosponsors for re-introducing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, emphasizing its crucial role in safeguarding the public’s access to fair elections and protecting the freedom to vote. They urged the Congress to quickly pass this legislation.
Washington, DC – Today, more than three weeks after the position was vacated, Republicans in the House of Representatives elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the 56th Speaker of the House.
Washington, DC – This afternoon, Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury for his efforts to overturn the free and fair 2020 election and his role in the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous released the following statement:
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Supreme Court issued its final decisions of the term, ending a tumultuous few months marked by the conservative majority sharply limiting the reach of the Clean Water Act, overturning race-based Affirmative Action for higher education, ruling that small businesses can sometimes discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans, refusing to establish Navajo Nation water rights to the Colorado River, and ending student loan forgiveness.
BIRMINGHAM, AL -- Today marks 10 years since the Supreme Court invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, in Shelby County v.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, in a 50-49 vote, the Senate confirmed Dale E. Ho as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, one of the most populated and racially diverse regions in the entire country. A well-known public interest attorney with profound experience at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU, Dale Ho has spent his career defending the freedom to vote and fundamental liberties for all Americans. To date, the Senate has confirmed over 130 of President Biden’s well-qualified judicial nominees.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Black voters in Allen v. Milligan, holding that Alabama’s racially gerrymandered 2021 voting map violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits voting rules that result in the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, a five-Justice conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruled to gut clean water protections for millions of Americans. The case, Sackett v. EPA, is a corporate polluter-backed effort to dismantle the Clean Water Act by narrowing the definition of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The Court’s decision will open millions of acres of wetlands – all formerly protected by the Clean Water Act – to pollution and destruction, including by negating many of President Biden’s wetland protections in his new WOTUS rule released last year. The majority decision – delivered by Justice Alito and joined by Justices Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Barrett – puts the drinking water supplies of millions of Americans at risk.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Senate voted 49-47 to confirm Nancy Abudu as a judge for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Judge Abudu is the first Black woman and only the third Black judge in the 11th Circuit’s history. Judge Abudu has a lengthy track record, previously serving as the Strategic Litigation Director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Legal Director of ACLU Florida, and staff attorney with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the early 2000s. She started her legal career at Tulane University Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic. Abudu is an expert in crucial areas of law related to the work of the 11th Circuit. She is among the most experienced litigators in the nation on criminal law and constitutional law, including religious expression, voting, civil liberties, and administrative law.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to begin understanding how to strengthen public faith and confidence in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the only federal court in the country that lacks a formal set of ethical standards. Former Fourth Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig, a conservative, submitted testimony to the Judiciary Committee this morning stating that the Supreme Court should “subject itself to the highest possible professional and ethical standards that would render the Court beyond reproach.”
HELENA, MT -- Yesterday, the Montana House of Representatives voted to ban Representative Zooey Zephyr, the state’s only transgender lawmaker, from the House floor, anteroom, or gallery for the rest of the session after she spoke out against proposed legislation to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. House Republicans began purposefully silencing Rep. Zephyr last Thursday and voted on Monday to continue disallowing her to speak. Rep. Zephyr’s constituents and supporters were arrested on Monday during a peaceful protest of the vote. Montana Republicans used unprecedented means to push bills targeting the state's environmental protections, public participation, and democracy this session. To date, 11 other states have passed similarly extreme anti-trans legislation.