AMICUS CURIAE BRIEFS
The Institute for Science and Human Values has signed on to two
amicus curiae
(friend of the court) briefs filed by the National Women’s Law Center in support of
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Virginia vs. Sebelius and Florida vs.
US Department of Health and Human Services. Both briefs address the Affordable
Care Act as curing a “moral and social wrong”, namely the disadvantages and
discrimination women have faced in obtaining health care and health insurance. The
Act does this by eliminating insurance companies’ ability to deny coverage based on
pre-existing conditions such as pregnancy, a previous Caesarian section, or a history
of having survived domestic abuse, and by requiring individuals to be insured, thus
making health insurance available to all who seek it.
in his official capacity as Attorney General of Virginia,
Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant,
v.
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, Secretary of the Department of Health and
Human Services, in her official capacity,
Defendant-Appellant/Cross-Appellee
February 6, 2014
There are currently two contraceptive coverage cases being heard by the
Supreme Court this term,
Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood
Specialties Corp.
v. Sebelius
. Both cases challenge the health care law’s
requirement that all new health insurance plans cover the full range of FDA-
approved contraceptives and related education and counseling, without cost
sharing.
Statement of Intent for the Institute for Science and Human Values
The Institute for Science and Human Values is committed to protecting and
advancing women’s full equality and health, with a particular interest in
ensuring that women receive all of the benefits of access to paid contraceptive
coverage, as provided in the Affordable Care Act, without regard to the
religious views of their private employer. ISHV, under the auspices of our pro
bono attorney, Ms Marcia Cohen, has signed onto two amicus briefs listed
below.
SUMMARY OF AMICUS BRIEF:
The National Women’s Law Center amicus brief will focus primarily on how the contraceptive coverage requirement advances two compelling state interests: improving women’s health and furthering women’s equality.
AND-
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT:
The Center for Inquiry amicus brief will focus on both the government and the
corporations seeking exemption focus their arguments on the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”). 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1. The government
correctly maintains that there is no substantial burden on the free exercise of
religion of the owners of the corporations, or indeed on the rights of the
corporations themselves, if this Court were to find that such rights exist. It is
the position of Amici herein that the granting of the requested exemption is not
only not required under RFRA, but is also unconstitutional, because it would
violate the Establishment Clause.
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INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE1 This brief is submitted by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, The Opportunity Agenda, and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund as amici curiae. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law2 (“Lawyers’ Committee”) is a nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1963 by the leaders of the American bar, at the request of President Kennedy, to help defend the civil rights of racial minorities and the poor. For over fifty years, the Lawyers’ 1 The parties have consented to the filing of this brief. No counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in part, and no counsel or party made a monetary contribution intended to fund the preparation or submission of this brief. No person other than amici curiae, their members, or their counsel made a monetary contribution to its preparation or submission. Elizabeth Julian, President of Respondent Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., and Demetria McCain, Deputy Director for Respondent, are members of the 22-member Board of Directors of amicus Poverty & Race Research Action Council (“PRRAC”). The PRRAC Board played no role in authoring or funding this brief. 2 The Lawyers’ Committee includes the following independent affiliates: The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; Lawyers’ Committee of Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association; The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc.; Colorado Lawyers’ Committee; Mississippi Center for Justice; Public Counsel, Los Angeles, California; Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia; and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Copy of amicus brief filed in support of the Inclusive Communities Project
January 13, 2015
INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (“The Leadership Conference”) is a coalition of more than 200 organizations committed to the protection of civil and human rights in the United States.1 It is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition. The Leadership Conference was founded in 1950 by three legendary leaders of the civil rights movement—A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins of the NAACP; and Arnold Aronson of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council. Its member organizations represent people of all races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. The Leadership Conference works to build an America that is inclusive and as good as its ideals, and it believes that every person in the United States deserves o be free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. The Leadership Conference Education Fund (“The Education Fund”) is the research, education, and communications arm of The Leadership Conference. It focuses on documenting discrimination in American society, monitoring efforts to enforce civil rights legislation, and fostering better understanding of issues of prejudice.
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In The Supreme Court of the United States TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, ET AL., Petitioners, v. THE INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES PROJECT, INC., Respondent. On Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Fifth Circuit
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT Fair housing is a bedrock civil rights protection, crucial to our nation’s core value of equal 
opportunity for all and to our nation’s success. In the face of deeply entrenched patterns of residential segregation and exclusion, Congress enacted the Fair Housing Act (“FHA” or “Act”), Pub. L. No. 90-284, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, 82 Stat. 81 (1968), to effec- tuate “the policy of the United States to provide, within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the United States.” 42 U.S.C. § 3601; see Trafficante v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 409 U.S. 205, 211 (1972) (not- ing the purpose of the Act to foster “truly integrated and balanced living patterns”) (citation omitted). The Act has helped to free many communities from dis- crimination and connect millions of Americans to opportunity. But, “[d]ue to a variety of factors – some influenced by government, some not – neighborhoods in our communities do not reflect the diversity of our Nation as a whole.” Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 551 U.S. 701, 797, 798 (2007)
opportunity for all and to our nation’s success. In the face of deeply entrenched patterns of residential segregation and exclusion, Congress enacted the Fair Housing Act (“FHA” or “Act”), Pub. L. No. 90-284, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, 82 Stat. 81 (1968), to effec- tuate “the policy of the United States to provide, within constitutional limitations, for fair housing throughout the United States.” 42 U.S.C. § 3601; see Trafficante v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 409 U.S. 205, 211 (1972) (not- ing the purpose of the Act to foster “truly integrated and balanced living patterns”) (citation omitted). The Act has helped to free many communities from dis- crimination and connect millions of Americans to opportunity. But, “[d]ue to a variety of factors – some influenced by government, some not – neighborhoods in our communities do not reflect the diversity of our Nation as a whole.” Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 551 U.S. 701, 797, 798 (2007)
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The Women's Movement Where It's Been, Where It's At and the Problems that Remain by Sonia Pressman Fuentes
At two meetings in June and October of 1966, a total of forty-nine women and men, of whom I was privileged to be one, founded an organization that, along with legislation, revolutionized this country and is well on its way to revolutionizing the rest of the world. The organization was called the National Organization for Women (NOW), and eight of the co- founders remain alive today. But before telling you more about NOW, I need to review what led up to its founding. I date the beginning of the legal revolution in women’s rights in this country to 1961 when President Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), with Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, to review, and make recommendations for, improving the status of women. In October 1963, the commission issued its report called American Women. On November 1, 1963, three weeks before his assassination, President Kennedy signed an executive order establishing a committee and council to facilitate carrying out the recommendations of the President's Commission. Nineteen sixty-three was also the year when Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, which became effective in 1964. That law required equal pay for equal or substantially equal work without regard to sex.
( Read More )
The Women's Movement: Where It's Been, Where It's At and the Problems that Remain by Sonia Pressman Fuentes
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, et alL., Petitioners, v. The Inclusive Communities Project, INC.,
Brief of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights et al. As Amici Curiae in Supoort of Petitioners
The National Women’s Law Center amicus brief will focus primarily on how the contraceptive coverage requirement advances two compelling state interests: improving women’s health and furthering women’s equality.
