On Wednesday, February 27, 2013, LWVUS President Elisabeth MacNamara spoke at the "Protect the VRA" rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The rally took place while the court heard oral arguments in the case of Shelby v. Holder, a case that examines the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). LWVSC Co-President Barbara Zia also delivered remarks during the rally.
As a League leader, you occasionally face questions about the rules that govern Leagues — what Leagues can do and what they can’t. We often receive similar questions at the national office.
On Wednesday, February 27th, in Washington, DC, nine women judges from Guyana, Colombia, Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States will discuss three issues: (1) how are women's rights being addressed by the courts in the Americas; (2) the importance of strengthening diversity in the judicial systems; and (3) the role of international law in promoting women's rights.
The panelists are:
The Campaign Finance Task Force is in the process of developing a Money in Politics “discussion guide” to be used by Leagues across the country for members and for the public. We are interested in any outlines and materials you may have used within your League for this purpose that we might share what has been done with others.
Use these templates to bring attention to next week's Supreme Court arguments in the VRA case, Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder. Customize the press release and letter to the editor for your local newspaper, repurpose as a blog posting or comment where the public goes to get their information in your community.
On February 21, the League sent the attached letter to the U.S. Senate in favor of common sense solutions to the gun violence plaguing our nation.
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February 21, 2013
To: Members of the U.S. Senate
From: Elisabeth MacNamara, President
Re: Reducing Gun Violence
The Agriculture Update will focus narrowly on: 1) current technology issues in agriculture including genetically modified organisms (GMOs), herbicides, pesticides, agriculture water pollution, aquifer depletion, antibiotics in livestock, and accurate food labeling; and 2) current agriculture finance issues including consolidation in agriculture industries, crop subsidies and the federal agricultural regulatory process.
LWVUS and LWVFL filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that a last-minute purge of suspected non-citizens by the state of Florida is barred by the National Voter Registration Act.
On February 13, the League and other reform groups sent a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics urging them to stand fast on the commissions current Rules of Procedure.