Courts, Civil Rights & Communities April 28, 2005

Media Advisory Contact: Cathy Davis (216) 288-9617
April 22, 2005

Civil Rights Coalition Hosts Town Hall Meeting on
Courts, Civil Rights and Communities

A broad coalition of civil rights and social justice organizations will host a town hall meeting on ?Courts, Civil Rights & Communities? on Thursday, April 28, 2005 from 7 ? 9 p.m. at the Cuyahoga Community College. The event is being organized to raise public awareness of what is at stake in the battle over federal judicial nominations.

President Bush believes he will have the opportunity to appoint as many as four Supreme Court nominees during his second term. Currently, the Supreme Court is closely divided on fundamental constitutional issues, with many of the most important cases in recent years being decided by one or two votes.

If just one or two additional judges from the radical right are confirmed to the Supreme Court, many of the legal and social justice gains of the past seven decades would be overturned and rolled back. Rights and legal protections that Americans fought hard to secure would be dismantled, and a return to a pre-New Deal mindset could prevent future Congresses and Presidents from enacting progressive legislation for decades to come.

WHAT: Town Hall Meeting: Courts, Civil Rights & Communities

WHEN: Thursday, April 28, 2005

WHERE: Cuyahoga Community College, Metro Campus, Student Center 10
2900 Community College Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

SPEAKERS: Rev. Timothy McDonald
Judge Patricia Ann Blackmon
Judge Larry A. Jones
Judge Emanuella Groves
Judge Patricia Ann Blackmon
Judge Pauline Tarver
Judge Anita Laster Mays
Judge Lauren C. Moore
Judge Joan Synenberg
State Senator C. J. Prentiss
State Representative Lance Mason
Attorney Raymond Pierce (Moderator)
Law Professor Candice Hoke (Moderator)

Sponsoring organizations include: African American Ministries in Action (AAMIA); People For the American Way; AFL-CIO, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Cleveland Branch; NAACP, Cleveland Branch; National Council of Negro Women, Inc.,
Western Reserve Section; Teamsters National Black Caucus, Cleveland Chapter; African American Women?s Agenda; Black Women?s Political Action Committee; NAACP National Voter Fund; 11th Congressional District Caucus; Voices of the Electors; A Phillip Randolph Institute (A.P.R.I.); Coalition of Black Trade Unionist (CBTU); Coalition of Labor Union Women; 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland; Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition.