ACTION ALERT: Write your senators to reject Carolyn Kuhl

Coming to a senate floor near you: Carolyn Kuhl, another right-wing ideologue that passed the judiciary committee on a party line split (dems voted again, repukes voted for). Now she is coming to a senate floor near you and the democrats will be filibustering.

As you know, we need to have 41 senators on our side to make the filibuster work and we definately have it. Sure, we may lose a few dems, heck even my dem senator Tom Carper may waiver (I'm working on him).

I couldn't find a birthdate for Ms. Kuhl, but she graduated from undergraduate school in 1974, so I'm estimating her around 50 years old, this means that Ms. Kuhl could have anywhere from 20-30 good years on the bench if she like. Our children and grandchildren could be dealing with the decisions made by Ms. Kuhl even after we get rid of Bush from the White House

Here are some facts about Carolyn Kuhl's record during the Reagan Administration. I recommend you not read this with a full stomach!
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=9590

Kuhl's record on women's rights, including privacy, bodily integrity, and reproductive freedom

• Dismissing claim of egregious privacy violation: As a state court judge, Kuhl threw out of court an invasion of privacy suit brought by a woman with breast cancer whose doctor had brought a drug company salesman into the examining room where he witnessed an intimate examination of her. The California Court of Appeal unanimously reversed Judge Kuhl's decision in the Sanchez-Scott case, holding that Kuhl was wrong on the law, that the woman had a well-established expectation of privacy, and that her complaint had alleged highly offensive conduct.
  
  
• Dismissing rape victim's claim: Kuhl wrote a 2-1 decision in the Julie R. case against a woman who had been raped by a man who trapped her in a car by parking it against a fence so she could not get out. Despite a vigorous dissent explaining that the car was used as a cage to prevent the victim from escaping, thus enabling the motorist to commit the act of rape, Kuhl ruled that the injury did not result from the 'use of' the car and so the victim's insurance company did not have to cover any damages.
  
  
• Continuing her anti-reproductive choice advocacy: In private practice, Kuhl filed an amicus curiae brief in Rust v. Sullivan on behalf of an anti-choice group in support of the federal 'gag rule' that prohibited family clinics getting federal funds from discussing abortion with patients. Kuhl's brief attacked the Court's decisions upholding a woman's right to choose abortion as causing a major distortion in the Court's constitutional jurisprudence.
  
  
• Arguing in favor of sex discrimination in education: As a private lawyer, Kuhl filed an amicus curiae brief in the VMI case supporting efforts by the Virginia Military Institute, a public all-male college, to continue to exclude women. Several years later, the Supreme Court rejected that position and ruled that VMI's exclusion of women was unconstitutional.
  

Carolyn Kuhl's Record in the Reagan Administration Kuhl's record on women's rights, including reproductive freedom

• Trying to overturn Roe v. Wade: Kuhl was co-author of 'he most aggressive memo' to the Solicitor General from within the Justice Department urging the Department to file an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court in the Thornburgh case calling for outright reversal of Roe.v Kuhl then co-authored precisely such a brief, but the Supreme Court rejected Kuhl's attack on Roe.
  
  
• Seeking to limit sexual harassment protections: Kuhl was co-author of an amicus brief on the side of the employer in the Meritor sexual harassment case. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the position advocated by Kuhl, which would have made it more difficult for women to prove sexual harassment in the workplace.
  
  
• Supporting limits on family planning aid: Kuhl defended Administration rules that sought to breach confidentiality and require family planning clinics getting federal funds to notify parents of adolescents seeking contraception assistance. In the Planned Parenthood v. Heckler case, an appellate court rejected her argument and held that the rules violated the law as passed by Congress.
  
  
• Kuhl's record on other civil rights issues, including promoting tax-exempt status for Bob Jones University
  
  
  
• Crusading for a tax exemption for Bob Jones University: Kuhl was identified as one of a band of young zealots who were the architects of the Reagan Administration's decision to reverse long-standing policy that denied tax-exempt status to Bob Jones University and other racially discriminatory private schools. This radical reversal of civil rights policy championed by Kuhl ignited a firestorm of criticism and was repudiated by the Supreme Court in an 8-1 ruling in the Bob Jones case.
  
  
• Trying to restrict discrimination remedies and end affirmative action: Kuhl was part of the Administration's effort to restrict court-ordered remedies for employment discrimination. She co-authored a brief in the Sheet Metal Workers case advocating the extreme theory that relief in such cases can be granted only to identifiable victims of discrimination, even when discrimination is intentional and long-standing, barring affirmative action. The Supreme Court again rejected Kuhl's argument.
  

Kuhl's record on access to justice

• Seeking to curtail citizens' access to the courts: In the words of a high-ranking Administration official, Kuhl launched a frontal attack on the important principle that organizations like the NAACP, the Sierra Club, and the Christian Coalition can file lawsuits on behalf of their members. Kuhl's effort was opposed even by the Chamber of Commerce and the AMA, and was rejected without dissent by the Supreme Court in the Brock case.
  
  
• Testifying against legislation to promote access to justice: Kuhl testified in Congress against proposals to allow veterans to go to court when denied veterans' benefits and other access to justice legislation. She criticized the veterans' rights proposal, claiming that the federal courts are not the enchanted land where all wrongs will be made right. Congress nonetheless later passed a law signed by President Reagan providing for judicial review.
  

If prefer just sending an email, here are some handy sites that can help get your message to your senator:

http://www.nfprha.org/pac/wac/index.asp?step=2&item=2550
http://prochoiceaction.org/campaign/sen_kuhl_051903web

If you prefer to write to your senator (which is an excellent idea!) then I might suggest this website to find your senator and his/her addresses:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

And please don't skip out on this because you feel your senator is a republican OR you think he's one of the dem senators that will cross over. It is IMPORTANT that we write all of our senators, even if it's just to register our disgust at supporting such horrible candidates such as these!!!!

Our work is cut out for us! The democrats have not failed us with Owens or Estrada, let's keep the winning streak going!!!