Migration Category: NCWP Old Site

The US Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it would hear for the third time a long-running case dealing with clinic violence. The case, National Organization for Women, et al v. Joseph Scheidler, et al, was first initiated in 1986 under the leadership of Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal, who was then president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and Susan Hill, president of the National Women’s Health Organization. NOW sued Joseph Scheidler and the Pro-Life Action Network, among others, arguing that they conspired illegally to close women’s reproductive health clinics, by using threats and extortionate acts against doctors, clinic employees and patients, in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

“The RICO case was a turning point in the fight for abortion rights,” said Hill. “It was the first time there was an organized effort to fight back against what we believed to be illegal means of interfering with services [provided by women’s health clinics.] I think that the Court’s actions in the late 1990s helped to save [abortion] providers’ and women’s lives.”

NOW and the National Women’s Health Organization were successful the first time the case appeared before the US Supreme Court in 1994, but in 2003 the Supreme Court reversed its previous decision, sending the case back to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court renewed the case on the grounds that threats of violence or violent acts may have been enough to initiate a lawsuit under RICO. The court refused to cancel the nationwide injunction barring anti-abortion protestors from trespassing in or near abortion clinics.

“We’re grateful the injunction has been keeping women safe for seven years, and the Court’s decision to give the case a full hearing will ensure that it stays in place at least until the Court renders a final decision,” said NOW President Kim Gandy.

DONATE to the Feminist Majority Foundation and support its National Clinic Access Project

Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Transue, deputy commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, was escorted out of her office last Friday. Transue was the highest ranking woman official in the agency, and the first woman to act as deputy commissioner. She gave up her badge, gun and ID card, and her picture has been removed from stations statewide, reports the Associated Press. State police officials have declined to comment on her employment status, but Major Robert Einsel has been appointed as her temporary replacement.

The Philadelphia Daily News reports that Transue filed a complaint last year, in which she accused the agency’s disciplinary officer, Captain Barry Titler, of perjury. Many suspect that Transue’s subsequent investigation and removal came as reprisal for reporting Titler. Penny Harrington, founder and board member of the National Center for Women and Policing, told the Philadelphia Daily News that “Because she did break the code of silence and reported inappropriate behavior, there’s a high likelihood she was targeted.”

President of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, Bruce Edwards, told the Philadelphia Daily News he had “gotten a lot of calls already from women on this job. They are not happy and they want some questions answered.”

DONATE to the Feminist Majority Foundation and support the National Center for Women and Policing

In its last day before summer recess, the Supreme Court issued decisions on six cases, only two of which, the decisions to outlaw copies of the Ten Commandments at a Kentucky courthouse and to protect copyrighted material in Internet file sharing, were widely covered by the media. In a troubling but all too familiar trend in media reporting, Castle Rock, Colorado v. Gonzales – a case that weakens enforcement of restraining orders in domestic violence cases – was largely ignored.

In a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled that Jessica Gonzales did not have a constitutional right to police enforcement of her mandatory court-ordered restraining order against her husband. Gonzales had filed a $30 million lawsuit against the Castle Rock, Colorado police department for failing to respond to five phone calls she made reporting a violation of the restraining order. The town of Castle Rock, backed by the Bush administration and several police organizations, won their argument that it would be unrealistic to enforce every restraining order. With the vast majority of restraining orders requested by women, according to the National Center for Violent Crime, the Castle Rock decision puts women’s lives in jeopardy and potentially lets police departments off the hook for failing to enforce mandatory orders.

FMF President Eleanor Smeal said of the ruling, “It is upsetting that this decision, which affects so many women and children, has been virtually ignored by the press. Even when women manage to pass tougher legislation, we can’t get it enforced. Mandatory restraining orders aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on if police officers are not required to enforce them.”

The National Center for Women and Policing joined Women in Federal Law Enforcement, the National Black Police Association, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, the National Center for Women & Policing, and Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, Inc. in filing an amicus brief in support of Gonzales’ claim that her due process rights were violated.

The Castle Rock ruling comes at a time when the 2005 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is up for re-authorization. This landmark piece of legislation, first passed by Congress in 1994, provides federal funding and protections for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault and assistance to victims, including provisions for improvements in law enforcement and judicial response. Now more than ever, the re-authorization of VAWA 2005 will be critical to protecting women and their children from violence.

DONATE to the Feminist Majority Foundation and support the National Center for Women and Policing

The US Supreme Court issued a decision today that weakens enforcement of restraining orders. In Castle Rock, Colo. v. Gonzales, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Jessica Gonzales did not have a constitutional right to police enforcement of the court-ordered restraining order against her husband. Justice Scalia issued the opinion of the Court, and Justices Stevens and Bader Ginsburg dissented.

“Restraining orders aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on if police officers are not required to enforce them,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, which administers the National Center for Women and Policing. “This is a very troubling decision for women seeking protection from abusive partners, threatening stalkers, or other people who seek to harm them or their children.”

The National Center for Women and Policing joined Women in Federal Law Enforcement, the National Black Police Association, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, the National Center for Women & Policing, and Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, Inc. in filing an amicus brief in support of Gonzales’ claim that her due process rights were violated.

The case stems from a $30 million lawsuit filed by Gonzales against the Castle Rock, Colorado police department for failing to respond to five phone calls she made reporting that her estranged husband had violated the restraining order she had placed against him and taken her three young daughters. Her husband, Simon, showed up at a police station hours after taking the girls and opened fire with an automatic weapon, which he had purchased after abducting the girls. The police fired back and killed Simon. All three girls had been shot and killed with multiple gunshots to the head; their bodies were in the back of Simon’s truck.

Under Colorado state law, the police are required to enforce court-ordered restraining orders by arresting violators. By failing to do so in this case, Gonzales and her lawyers argue that the police violated her 14th Amendment right to due process. In an en banc opinion, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. Joined by the Bush administration and many police groups, including the National Sheriffs’ Association, the town of Castle Rock appealed the decision, arguing that it would be unrealistic to enforce every restraining order. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Gonzales, and the US Supreme Court reverses that decision.

DONATE to the Feminist Majority Foundation and support the National Center for Women and Policing

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), first passed by Congress in 1994, was introduced in the Senate for reauthorization this past week. Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE), Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the bill June 8. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) were among the bill’s co-sponsors. A landmark piece of legislation for women’s rights, VAWA provides federal funding and protections for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault and assistance to victims. VAWA also includes critical provisions for improvements in law enforcement and judicial response to violence against women.

First signed into law by President Clinton in 1994, women’s rights groups fought for and won reauthorization of the bill in 2000 after months of Republican stalling. The Feminist Majority, led by Eleanor Smeal, played a major role in the passage of the original VAWA. This crucial piece of legislation will expire if Congress does not reauthorize it by September of 2005.

The VAWA bill introduced last week would not only reauthorize critical programs and services already in place but would also expand these provisions. For example, VAWA 2005 includes the Sexual Assault Services Act (SASA) which would provide funding for direct services for sexual assault victims, including 24-hour emergency and support services. SASA would address the fact that due to state budget cuts, rape crisis and other community-based support centers are increasingly and drastically under-funded, according to the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women.

DONATE to support the work of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Center for Women and Policing

The House of Representatives passed the 2006 military authorization bill late yesterday without an amendment to restrict women’s roles in the military. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), who proposed an amendment initially that would have required Congress to vote on any expansion of women in combat positions, offered a scaled back version yesterday, requiring 60 days’ notice given to Congress before a position is opened or closed to women, reports the New York Times. The amendment also asks that the defense secretary review the implementation of the 1994 policy on women in combat.

The Washington Post reports that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld disagreed with previous versions of the amendment, likely because of the outcry from military leadership, and that Rumsfeld worked with Hunter to eliminate any ban on women’s service from the legislation. Congresswoman Heather A. Wilson (R-NM), the only female veteran in Congress, told the Post that with men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress “should not do anything to indicate that we do not appreciate their service.” Congresswoman Ellen O. Tauscher (D-CA) called the passed version “an improvement,” but said, “This situation is like the schoolyard bully taking your lunch money, getting caught, giving you half back, and then asking you to thank him for it.”

DONATE to the Feminist Majority Foundation and support our National Center for Women and Policing

New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi announced Sunday that 198 convicted sex offenders have received Viagra through New York state Medicaid funds since January of 2000. The next day, Florida Attorney General Charlie Christ said that Florida’s Medicaid program has funded Viagra prescriptions for 218 convicted sex offenders over the past four years. Other states have also been investigating their Medicaid programs to see whether sex offenders have been receiving Viagra at the cost of the state.

In 1998, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) directed states to provide Medicaid coverage for Viagra when “medically necessary.” The CMS revealed this week that Medicaid programs pay out $36 million each year for Viagra. It is unclear how many sex offenders have received Medicaid funding for Viagra nationally since 1998. However, Hevesi’s spokesperson, David Neutadt, has said that he believes policies on Viagra are similar from state to state, the Associated Press reported.

Following Hevesi’s announcement, the federal Department of Health and Human Services released a letter to state Medicaid directors saying that state Medicaid programs “should restrict the coverage of such drugs” and warned that states could face sanctions if they do not “review and implement appropriate controls” to prevent convicted sex offenders from obtaining Viagra through Medicaid funds.

Earlier this month, Captain MeLinda Morton, a Lutheran minister and executive officer of the chaplain unit at the Air Force Academy, was removed from her position and transferred to Okinawa, Japan. Capt. Morton was an outspoken critic of the religious climate at the Air Force Academy. According to the Washington Post, she said that evangelical Christianity dominated the campus, and “the evangelicals want to subvert the system. They have a very clear social and political agenda.”

In 2004, a team from Yale Divinity School examined the Air Force Academy‘s program for incoming freshman, and found pervasive proselytizing on the part of evangelical officers and cadets. The Post reports that this study was done as part of the investigation into the sexual assault procedures at the Academy, and was denounced by the Academy’s chief chaplain. Capt. Morton, who agreed with criticisms in the Yale team’s report, had been assured of her position through summer of 2006. Morton was working on several projects including pastoral care for victims of sexual assault, reports the New York Times, but she was abruptly transferred on May 4. Morton remains outspoken on the issue, calling the evangelical bias “systemic,” according to the Denver Post, and claiming pressure from supervisors to denounce the Yale report. The Pentagon is now investigating her removal. Capt. Morton believes her removal is a retaliatory move intended to promote compliance among the remaining chaplain’s staff, reports the Times.

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, a Pentagon task force has also investigated the religious climate at the school. The task force briefed Air Force Secretary Micheal Dominguez on Monday, and the full report is expected in a few weeks. The Gazette reports that 46 Democrats in Congress signed a letter to Dominguez asking for his personal involvement to avoid a whitewash similar to that of the sexual assault scandal two years ago.

DONATE to support the work of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Center for Women and Policing

As part of a $100 million settlement with 90 alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests in Orange County, California, the Orange County diocese on Tuesday released confidential personnel files of 15 of the accused priests and teachers. The some 10,000 pages of letters, handwritten notes, and other documents revealed that in many instances Church officials transferred priests accused of sex abuse to other dioceses, lied to parishioners and family members of victims, and failed to notify police or child services, according to the Associated Press. Eight of the accused priests and educators refused to allow their records to be released, and a judge ruled he was “powerless” to force the release of those documents, the Los Angeles Times reports. Another 21 accused clergy members were not part of the settlement, so their records were not among those released by Orange County Bishop Tod D. Brown.

Of those responsible for covering up the sex abuse scandal in Orange County, two men remain in positions with the Church. Bishop Michael P. Driscoll, now bishop of the Diocese of Boise, Idaho, issued an apology on the diocese’s website earlier this month in anticipation of the release of the files, saying, “I am deeply sorry that the way we handled cases at that time allowed children to be victimized by permitting some priests to remain in ministry, for not disclosing their behavior to those who might be at risk, and for not monitoring their actions more closely.”

Mary Brown, western regional director of SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), issued a statement calling on Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles to follow Bishop Brown’s lead and “finally come clean about sexually abusive clerics and complicit church officials in his archdiocese.” The Los Angeles archdiocese is facing lawsuits from more than 500 people which could result in an estimated settlement of $1 billion, according to Reuters.