The Obama Administration has announced that 9.11 defendants will be tried in federal court rather than the Guantánamo military commissions -- and I must say that folks who fear that the 9.11 defendants might go free on "technicalities" show a tremendous lack of faith in the American justice system. Not to mention that said "technicalities" would more likely be due to Bush Mobb incompetence than that of Mr. Obama. Not to mention that, if all we wanted from anything were "guilty" verdicts, we'd be trying traffic tickets in military courts. Anyway, the Obama Administration won't be trying other detainees in the federal court system, so the ACLU helps you call for federal court cases for all detainees. We're either good enough to be both safe and free, or we're not. I know which side right-wingers come down on. I also know they come down on the wrong side.
Meanwhile, both Planned Parenthood and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State help you oppose the Stupak Amendment to the recent House-passed health care bill, which restricts federal support for abortion more than ever before. The Stupak Amendment doesn't just prevent the "public option" from covering abortion; it also prevents any health care entity that participates in the federal exchange from covering abortion, which, last I looked, was still legal. The net result? Millions of women who now have abortion coverage will lose it. If folks want to prevent women from having abortions, they need to make abortion illegal, period, end of story. They will fail in doing that in the short run, since the vast majority of Americans are now pro-choice. But you don't just throw random roadblocks in front of a woman's right to a legal medical procedure. Not if you respect the law, anyway.
Finally, S. 1789 would equalize crack and powder cocaine sentences; Families Against Mandatory Minimums helps you tell your Senators to support the bill. Also, you may be interested to know that Congress has required a review of mandatory minimum sentences as part of the recently-passed Defense Appropriations bill. I'm not surprised to see a fairly decent piece on mandatory minimums in the Wall Street Journal -- the Journal is fairly right-wing, economically, but many folks who are right-wing economically are fairly libertarian about criminal justice matters. I see another opportunity for real bipartisanship!