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ACTION ALERT!
ACTION ALERT: Samuel Alito
is a Threat to LGBTs and People Living with HIV/AIDS — Stop
Him Befor He Gets to the Supreme Court
Judge Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings are underway. During
his tenure at the Reagan Justice Department and on the Third Circuit
Court of Appeals, Alito sought to undermine privacy rights, civil
rights gains, access to abortion, and the separation of church
and state. He must not be confirmed to a lifetime appointment
on the Supreme Court.
Call Senator Charles Schumer and thank him for keeping the pressure
on Samuel Alito during the confirmation hearings. Tell him to vote
to against Alito when the Senate Judiciary committee votes on the
nominee.
Call Senator Schumer now at (202)224-6542 and
say:
"My name is _______I live in ______, New York. I want to thank
Senator Schumer for his scrutiny of Samuel Alito and urge him
to vote against this nominee. Alito is hostile to civil rights,
privacy rights, and the separation of church and state. A Supreme
Court with Alito on the bench would be devastating to people
with HIV/AIDS, LGBT youth, immigrants, people of color, and women.
Please continue to stand up for our communities and VOTE TO OPPOSE.
Thank you.
Samuel Alito's record spells danger for LGBT and HIV/AIDS
communities:
- As Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan administration,
Alito helped write a Justice Department's opinion upholding
employment discrimination against people with AIDS. Federal
law, the opinion stated, does not prohibit employers from firing
workers with AIDS based on "[f]ear of contagion, whether reasonable
or not."
- On the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Alito
repeatedly sought to impose undue and impossible burdens on women,
people with disabilities, victims of racial discrimination, and
refugees seeking merely to have their day in court. His colleagues
on the Third Circuit cautioned that if Alito's views
prevailed, the federal law prohibiting employment discrimination "would
be eviscerated."
- As Assistant Solicitor General, Alito signed a government
amicus brief comparing affirmative action to slavery. He
has also voiced his opposition to Civil Rights era "one man,
one vote" rulings.
- Alito has declared his strong belief in "the legitimacy
of a government role in protecting traditional values." Our
communities know only too well that "traditional values" have
long provided political cover for attacks on women and the
LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities. Alito has noted his disagreement
with Supreme Court rulings that upheld the separation of church
and state. He authored two opinions for the Third Circuit that
make way for Christian proselytizing in the schools — even
when such activities have a disproportionately harmful effect
on LGBT students and put them at risk of greater harassment.
- During this week's confirmation hearings, Alito signaled his
willingness to revisit and possibly overturn or fatally undermine Roe
v. Wade. The 1973 decision was a supporting precedent
in Lawrence v. Texas which overturned the nation's sodomy laws.
Alito has already upheld extreme restrictions on a woman's
right to choose. If the Supreme Court curtails reproductive
rights and freedoms access to health care in general
will be compromised; all rights to bodily integrity will be
jeopardized.
When asked what kind of Justice he would be, Alito answered, "I'll
be the same [judge] that I was on the Court of Appeals." We cannot
allow Alito to make good on that promise.
CALL Senator Schumer TODAY!
For more on the Supreme Court and its impact on LGBT and HIV/AIDS
communities, please click here.
© 2006 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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