figHtiNg for Justice, equality, Fairness & Democracy

Alliance for Justice is national association of over 100 organizations, representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of a fair, just, and free society.

AARP • The Advocacy Fund • Advocates for Youth • AIDS United • The Arc • Arkansas Center for Health Improvement • Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund • Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law • Business and Professional People for the Public Interest • Business and Professional Women’s Foundation • Campion

Foundation • Center for Children’s Law and Policy • Center for Constitu-

tional Rights • Center for Digital Democracy • Center for Inquiry • Center

for Law and Social Policy • Center for Legal Aid Education • Center for Reproductive

Rights • Cen- ter for Science in the Public Inter- est • Children’s Defense

Fund • The City Project • Compassion & Choices • Compre- hensive Health Education

Foundation • Conservation Campaign • Consumer Action • Consumers Union • Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates •

Culture Project • Defending Dissent Founda-tion • Disability Rights Education and De-

fense Fund • Drug Policy Alliance • Earth Day Network • Earthjustice Legal Defense

Fund • Education Law Center • Energy Foundation • Equal Justice Society • Equal Rights Advocates • Food Bank of the Albemarle • Food Research & Action Center • Green For All • Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg • Human Rights Campaign Foundation • Institute for Public Representation • Jewish Social Justice Roundtable • Jobs with Justice • Justice Policy Institute • Juvenile Law Center • Lambda

Legal • Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law • League of Conser-vation Voters Education Fund • Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center • Legal Aid Society • Legal Momentum (DC office) • Maine Women’s Lobby • Mental Health America • Methodist Healthcare Ministries • Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund • NARAL Pro-choice America Foundation • National Abortion Federation • National Association of Consumer Advocates • National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers •

National Center for Law and Economic Justice • National Center for Lesbian Rights • National Center for Youth Law • Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law • National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care • National Committee for Respon-sive Philanthropy • National Council of Jewish Women • National Coun-cil of Nonprofits • National Council for Research on Women • National Education Asso-ciation • National Employ-ment Lawyers Association • National Family Planning and Reproductive Health

Association • National Immigration Forum • National Immigration Law Center • National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty • National Lawyers Guild • National Legal Aid & Defender Association • National Low Income Housing Coalition • National Parks

Conservation Association • National

Partnership for Women and Families • National

Senior Citizens Law Center • National Veterans

Legal Services Program • National Whistle-

blower’s Center • National Wildlife Federation

• National Women’s Law Center • Native Ameri-

can Rights Fund • Natural Re-

sources Defense Council • New

York Lawyers for the Public

Interest • Physicians for Human

Rights • Planned Parent-

hood Federation of America •

PolicyLink • Progress Michigan

• Public Advocates • Secular

Coalition for America • Service

Employees International Union

• Seton Hall School of Law

Center for Social Justice •

Sierra Club Foundation •

States United to Prevent

Gun Violence • Sustainable

Agriculture Coalition • TASH • The Wilderness

Society • Tides Center • University of Pennsyl-

vania Law School Toll Public Interest Cen-

ter • USAction • Violence Policy Center •

Women’s Law Project • Women’s Way

With President Barack Obama’s second term underway, Alliance for Justice is working with renewed vigor for a fair, just, and free America. Without doubt, the country is engaged in a titanic battle over the future of our legal system, the legitimacy of democratic institutions, the concept of equal justice under law, and the ability of everyday Americans to actively participate in civic insti-tutions. In this challenging high-stakes climate, Alliance for Justice is on the frontlines, drawing on over three decades of experience, expertise, relation-ships, and partnerships.

Bolstered by the collective power of over one hundred member organizations…

AFJ strengthens the architecture of our democracy and fosters civic engagement by equipping an energized nonprofit community to advocate assertively for policies that foster social and economic jus-tice, environmental action, reproductive rights, immigration reform, LGBT rights, and other vital national priorities through our Bolder Advocacy initiative.

AFJ fights hard for the confirmation of a judge for every opening in the federal judiciary and the selection of nominees for the federal bench who reflect the full diversity of the legal profession, including those who have held positions in public service, the criminal defense bar, and public interest law.

AFJ exposes the threat the Supreme Court’s radical conservative majority poses to the social, economic, and legal progress of the past 75 years. And, if the occasion arises, AFJ will actively advocate for the appointment of justices to the Supreme Court who have an unwav-ering commitment to the rights of everyday Americans and who will serve as effective counterweights to the extreme conservative forces that currently dominate the Court.

We invite you to join with us as we strive to promote our shared values of jus-tice, equality, fairness, and democracy. Your involvement as advocate, partner, supporter, or activist is both sincerely welcomed and extraordinarily necessary.

Nan Aron

A MessAge froM

NAN AroN

President, AlliAnce for Justice

the Fight to ensure equal Justice

A cornerstone of American democracy is the notion that all members of our society should have the same expectation of justice along with equal access to the courts to secure it. Yet for over forty years, special interests have sought to con-trol the legal system for their own ends. With an aggressive

litigation strategy abetted by the current five-vote conservative majority on the Supreme Court, corporations have carved out special privileges for themselves. They have weakened the ability of everyday Americans to employ the courts either as individuals or united in class actions, and have substituted procedures, such as forced arbitra-tion, that inherently favor corporate power.

In response, AFJ has sought to alter the national conversation about the courts and to create an environment that makes it more difficult for the federal judiciary to further tilt the balance away from long-held, hard-won notions of equal justice for all.

Justice. equAlitY. fAirNess. deMocrAcY.alliance for Justice simultaneously serves as a leading progressive voice on matters related to the federal judiciary and as an unrivaled expert on the legal framework, importance, and assessment of nonprofit advocacy activities. But these two aspects of our work are really two sides of the same coin: an unwavering commitment to ensuring that everyone in our nation has an equal voice in every aspect of our democracy.

Bolder Advocacy’s expert staff trained close to 2,500 advocates from more than 1,500 nonprofits and founda-tions in the rules and laws governing advocacy. For example, we coached groups in Florida about their legal options for opposing a ballot measure limiting reproductive rights. This kind of techni-cal assistance is designed to overcome misperceptions about the ability of groups to engage in advocacy and to encourage greater nonprofit participation in all aspects of our democratic system.

BuilDing a Diverse JuDiciary committeD to equal Justice For all

Crucial to the protection of democratic principles is a judiciary that adheres to a balanced approach to the law, respects the rights of everyday Americans, and advances core constitutional values.

For that reason, AFJ devotes considerable attention to the judicial selection process, playing a central role in pro-moting diverse, progressive candidates for federal judge-ships and opposing Republican obstruction of President Obama’s nominees to the federal bench.

The federal judiciary is in crisis, with too few judges to provide justice to the American people, a condition aggravated by relentless partisan attacks on the president’s nominees. Astonishingly, there were more vacancies on the federal bench at the end of President Obama’s first term than when he took office, leaving one branch of govern-ment understaffed and making it harder for Americans to stand up for their rights. AFJ’s advocacy efforts are but-tressed by its role as the leading resource for objective information about the nominations process and a national reputation for high-quality research.

AFJ President Nan Aron appeared on MSNBC’s Up with Chris Hayes to discuss the Supreme Court, judicial nominations, and the progressive role in shaping the judiciary. AFJ is nationally known as the leading provider of information about judicial nominations. We help mobilize activists around the country to oppose the unprecedented level of obstruction in the United States Senate against President Obama’s nominees to the federal bench. In 2012, AFJ generated over 54,000 emails to senators calling for an end to the incessant partisan obstruction that has led to a crisis in our courts.

Justice. equAlitY. fAirNess. deMocrAcY.AFJ is front and center in advocacy regarding the most important cases in front of the Supreme Court, and is an active participant in coalitions fighting for justice in the federal courts. Here, AFJ President Nan Aron addresses the rally on the steps of the Court on February 27, 2013, the day Shelby County v. Holder was argued and the future of the Voting Rights Act hung in the balance.

encouraging civic engagement anD strengthening nonproFit aDvocacy

Our democratic system depends on the active participation of the American people in policy and political debates, as individuals, or together with those who share their interests and values. Among the most important vehicles for civic engagement are nonprofit organizations, each of which is permitted by law to add its voice, in various ways, to public education about vital issues, legislative battles, or elections.

Through its Bolder Advocacy initiative, AFJ is the lead-ing expert on ensuring an unfettered path to democratic participation for nonprofit organizations, and on ways to maximize the effectiveness of that advocacy. With miscon-ceptions about how groups can legally engage in advocacy alarmingly com-mon, AFJ’s goal is to help nonprofits, foundations, and other funding partners become smarter and more confident—bolder!—in their advocacy work. At the same time, AFJ encourages foundations and individual donors to be more effec-tive in creating the lasting change they want to see in the world by supporting active advocacy programs among their grantees.

challenging the supreme court to preserve FunDamental rights

A series of Supreme Court cases to be decided this year highlight threats to other core democratic values, including the right to vote and the right to marry: Shelby County v. Holder, dealing with the constitutionality of Section 5 of the landmark Voting Rights Act, and two cases related to same-sex marriage, Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth v. Perry.

For AFJ, these cases, and others like them, are in and of themselves vitally important for the preservation of core rights under the Constitution, but they also provide an opportunity to foster a more robust understanding among the American people about the central role the courts play in shaping American life.

Also central to the functioning of our democracy are the concepts of transparency and accountability for public officials. No public servant is above the law or immune from public scrutiny, including the justices of the Supreme Court. AFJ will pusue its ongoing project to reform ethics rules governing the justices. This year we are renewing our call for Congress to require the Court to adopt the same code of conduct that governs all other federal judges.

BuilDing a Diverse JuDiciary committeD to equal Justice For all

Crucial to the protection of democratic principles is a judiciary that adheres to a balanced approach to the law, respects the rights of everyday Americans, and advances core constitutional values.

For that reason, AFJ devotes considerable attention to the judicial selection process, playing a central role in pro-moting diverse, progressive candidates for federal judge-ships and opposing Republican obstruction of President Obama’s nominees to the federal bench.

The federal judiciary is in crisis, with too few judges to provide justice to the American people, a condition aggravated by relentless partisan attacks on the president’s nominees. Astonishingly, there were more vacancies on the federal bench at the end of President Obama’s first term than when he took office, leaving one branch of govern-ment understaffed and making it harder for Americans to stand up for their rights. AFJ’s advocacy efforts are but-tressed by its role as the leading resource for objective information about the nominations process and a national reputation for high-quality research.

Author, columnist, and CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin joined AFJ President Nan Aron, NYU Law Prof. Kenji Yoshino, and Slate Senior Editor Emily Bazelon in a public discussion in New York to assess the current Supreme Court term and its role in American life. Through public events, websites, blogs, relationships with public officials and the media, and outreach to its 30,000 Facebook fol-lowers, AFJ helps shape the national conversation about the threats this Court poses to the social and political progress of the past 75 years.

AFJ was an active participant in the production of a special issue of The Nation magazine (Oct. 8, 2012) which explored the 40-year effort by conserva-tives to create “The One Percent Court,” and the ways in which the current five-vote majority has assertively pro-tected powerful interests. The magazine included an essay by AFJ President Nan Aron, “The Way Forward,” which spelled out a long-term strategy for progressive engagement in justice-related issues.

AFJ President Nan Aron appeared on MSNBC’s Up with Chris Hayes to discuss the Supreme Court, judicial nominations, and the progressive role in shaping the judiciary. AFJ is nationally known as the leading provider of information about judicial nominations. We help mobilize activists around the country to oppose the unprecedented level of obstruction in the United States Senate against President Obama’s nominees to the federal bench. In 2012, AFJ generated over 54,000 emails to senators calling for an end to the incessant partisan obstruction that has led to a crisis in our courts.

Justice. equAlitY. fAirNess. deMocrAcY.AFJ is front and center in advocacy regarding the most important cases in front of the Supreme Court, and is an active participant in coalitions fighting for justice in the federal courts. Here, AFJ President Nan Aron addresses the rally on the steps of the Court on February 27, 2013, the day Shelby County v. Holder was argued and the future of the Voting Rights Act hung in the balance.

The Connection: Strategies for Creating and Operating 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and Political Organizations and Influencing Public Policy in the Digital Age are among the definitive guides to nonprofit advocacy released by Bolder Advocacy in time for the 2012 election cycle. In addition, Bolder Advocacy’s new online Advocacy Capacity Tool helps groups measure their readiness to engage in issue campaigns, influencing legislation, or other forms of advocacy.

preserving Democratic principles anD processes

While AFJ works to maximize democratic activ-ity, there is growing fear that some democratic institutions are failing to fulfill their basic obli-gations to ensure fairness, competence, and effective governance.

The 2012 election cycle saw widespread efforts to limit voter participation, particularly among people of color, young people, and the elderly. In many states, the voting process itself was mired in inefficiencies and susceptible to partisan influence. Attacks on voting rights are part of a pattern of willful disenfranchisement of everyday Americans and pose a systemic threat to the func-tioning of our constitutional form of government.

For that reason, Alliance for Justice has placed its significant network of advocates, its

unmatched track record for coalition-building, its high visibility within the media and influence among elected officials, and its sector-leading resources and expertise, in the service of the broad-based, long-term democracy agenda that undergirds everything AFJ does. We will also continue our long-standing efforts to advance policies that encourage and facilitate the participation of individuals and organizations in all aspects of our democracy.

challenging the supreme court to preserve FunDamental rights

A series of Supreme Court cases to be decided this year highlight threats to other core democratic values, including the right to vote and the right to marry: Shelby County v. Holder, dealing with the constitutionality of Section 5 of the landmark Voting Rights Act, and two cases related to same-sex marriage, Windsor v. United States and Hollingsworth v. Perry.

For AFJ, these cases, and others like them, are in and of themselves vitally important for the preservation of core rights under the Constitution, but they also provide an opportunity to foster a more robust understanding among the American people about the central role the courts play in shaping American life.

Also central to the functioning of our democracy are the concepts of transparency and accountability for public officials. No public servant is above the law or immune from public scrutiny, including the justices of the Supreme Court. AFJ will pusue its ongoing project to reform ethics rules governing the justices. This year we are renewing our call for Congress to require the Court to adopt the same code of conduct that governs all other federal judges.

Unequal Justice: The Relentless Rise of the 1% Court, a 20-minute documentary narrated by The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel, looks at the real-world impacts of Supreme Court cases that epitomize the persistent bias of the five-member majority on the Roberts Court in favor of the powerful. The film reveals how the Court protects special interests and denies a fair chance at justice for everyday Americans, including Chris Kwapnowski, pictured above, one of the plaintiffs in the notorious case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes.

Central to our agenda for democracy is the promotion of rules reform in the United States Senate. Abuses of the filibuster have done enormous damage to the reputation of Congress and to its ability to address crucial issues, including judicial nominations. AFJ played a leadership role in the coalition of groups promoting rules reforms at the beginning of the current session of Congress. While the Senate’s ultimate compromise made modestly helpful changes to the process for district court judges, we will continue to lead efforts to restore the ability of the Senate to play a constructive role in the governing of the nation.

Author, columnist, and CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin joined AFJ President Nan Aron, NYU Law Prof. Kenji Yoshino, and Slate Senior Editor Emily Bazelon in a public discussion in New York to assess the current Supreme Court term and its role in American life. Through public events, websites, blogs, relationships with public officials and the media, and outreach to its 30,000 Facebook fol-lowers, AFJ helps shape the national conversation about the threats this Court poses to the social and political progress of the past 75 years.

Anne Helen Hess, Chair

Winsome McIntosh, Vice Chair

Ken Grossinger, Secretary

Betsy Cavendish, Treasurer

Nan Aron, President

Terisa Chaw

Clay Hiles

Paul Katcher

Sarah Kovner

Paulette Meyer

Norman Rosenberg

Judith Scott

Arnold Spellun

Wesley Warren

Patricia Williams

Bradley Whitford

BoArd of directors

Alliance for Justice Websitewww.afj.org

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coNNect WitH us

How to support Alliance for JusticeAlliance for Justice depends on the generous support of individuals like you, as well as foundations and organizations which value the ability of AFJ to fight successfully for the cause of justice and civic engagement. Please help us ensure that equal justice is afforded to all Americans by making a contribution to Alliance for Justice at www.afj.org. Alliance for Justice is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax-deductible. For additional information on how you can support Alliance for Justice, please contact the Development Department at (202) 822-6070.

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