2007 National Convention Video
2007 ACS National Convention Panel Discusses "Congress and the Balance of Power"
Congress and the Balance of Power
Events of the past few years raise the question whether Congress has abdicated too much power and ceded too much territory to the executive and judicial branches. This plenary panel discussed the balance of power among the branches of federal government with a focus on congressional power. Has the balance shifted significantly in the 110th Congress? In connection with the war in Iraq, has Congress exercised its war powers appropriately? Has it used its oversight power properly? What is necessary to ensure the constittuional balance among the three branches of government? What work remains to be done?
2007 ACS National Convention Breakout Session Discusses "Examining 'Backlash' and Attacks on Landmark Decisions"
This session explores the argument, heard lately with increasing frequency, that over-reliance on the courts has undermined progressive goals. Some have asserted that Roe v. Wade, the Massachusetts Goodridge v. Department of Health decision mandating marriage equality, and even Brown v. Board of Education, were counter-productive because they short-circuited the political process, polarized debate, and fueled conservative activism. Are the factual premises of this "backlash thesis" correct? Are progressive setbacks attributable to excessive reliance on the courts? Where would we be without the landmark rights-based decisions of the last several decades? Should progressives approach the courts differently at this time in history?
2007 ACS National Convention Panel Discusses "Race and the Constitution: The State of Equal Protection"
Congress and the Balance of Power
Race and the Constitution: The State of Equal Protection
This panel explores the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and its great promise of equal protection of the laws at this juncture in American history. In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District, decided this Term, the Supreme Court invalidated the policies voluntarily adopted by the Seattle and Louisville school districts to integrate the schools in those communities. What are the practical effects of the decision and its broader ramifications? Both within the educational arena and beyond it, what viable race-conscious methods are available for achieving integration and racial justice in this country? What can be done to alleviate racial segregation in our schools and in our society? Following Parents Involved, what is the enduring legacy of Brown v. Board of Education?
House Judiciary Chair John Conyers Addresses ACS National Convention
Speaking at the Fifth Annual ACS National Convention, U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-MI), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, addressed the ongoing controversy at the Justice Department, as well as concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
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Windows Media Video
2007 ACS National Convention Breakout Session Discusses "The Search for Compromise and Consensus on Reproductive Rights"
Taking a wide-angle view of reproductive rights, this session situates the struggle over abortion - and the Supreme Court's decision this term in Gonzales v. Carhart - in the broader context of legal principles and public policies that affect the lives of women and families. Panelists address the argument, offered increasingly as a way to find consensus, that abortion restrictions are an acceptable "middle ground" even when they jeopardize women's reproductive freedom and safety. Are there better places to seek common ground, such as measures to help women prevent unintended pregnancies and support their families? Where should the discussion go from here?
