rpbp

[rpbp]

[rpbp]

Substackage

As I await completion of a new, more era-appropriate site (rpbp.io), taking a moment to let you know you can find me on Substack — where I am soon to become much more active.

Please follow me at Substack, Bsky, X, Instagram, and a Facebook Page. Let me know what I've missed!

[rpbp]

Personal Update

On hiatus following a devastating fire that destroyed my home on New Year's Eve 2024. The cats and I are safe, but I've lost almost everything. The building is not just uninhabitable but a crime scene.

With many thanks to the valiant DCFD and efforts of friends, there's still a dizzying amount to do logistically, legally, and otherwise—in addition to recovering from COVID.

Any and all help is very much appreciated. Insurance doesn't account for a fire of this scale or intensity, nor displacement for more than a year—the present estimate for reconstruction—beginning in the middle of winter.

[rpbp]

"A binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court is in reach—if not right away. Despite facing unprecedented negative public opinion, the justices refused to do more than issue vague language on ethics without a mechanism of enforcement. Chief Justice John Roberts phoned in a dismissive letter, rather than addressing the Senate Judiciary Committee.

These actions attracted rather than alleviated concern. As a result, reform proposals have gained both congressional traction and public favor."

[rpbp]

Don't sleep on @AudreLawdAMercy!

Delighted to get to host the latest edition of Alliance for Justice's Holding Court with lawyer, writer, and professor Madiba K. Dennie of Balls and Strikes on the day her new book, The Originalism Trap, came out!

[rpbp]

Always delighted to contribute to TIME, though hoping someday soon it'll be about cheerier topics. This terrific, incisive essay is about the future of LGBTQ—and, let's be honest, pretty much all other rights—before this Supreme Court and heading into the 2024 election.

“People think that marriage equality is a fait accompli,” says Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, a former spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee and Yale Law graduate who is on the board of LPAC, which raises money to help lesbians and their allies win elections. “They think that not just because of Obergefell but because of the Respect for Marriage Act. They're wrong—dangerously wrong.”

....

“The distillation of the crisis we face to whether Obergefell falls is apt and, in a way, an inversion of a familiar problem: the conflation of marriage equality with what it takes to protect LGBTQ+ people in day-to-day life,” says Buckwalter-Poza. “We didn't win civil rights for queer and trans folks across the board just by winning Obergefell, but we absolutely do stand to lose everything if we lose Obergefell.”

[rpbp]

"It wasn’t always obvious in the moment, but one month into the new year, it’s clearer than ever how extraordinary the Biden administration and Senate allies’ 2023 accomplishments were when it comes to the judiciary. Democrats, led by Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Senator Dick Durbin (Ill.), confirmed 166 judges by 2023’s end—about two-thirds of whom are women.

Alliance for Justice’s new report, “Courting Change: 2023 Momentum for Movement Law,” breaks down Biden’s nominations and confirmations in terms of both professional and demographic diversity. In 2023 alone, the administration appointed eight public defenders, 13 civil rights lawyers, two labor lawyers and seven plaintiff-side lawyers. That means that from the time Biden took office through the end of last year, the administration appointed a total of 37 public defenders, 25 civil rights lawyers, three labor lawyers, and 17 plaintiff-side lawyers to the federal bench."

[rpbp]

At present, there are nearly 100 judicial vacancies for lifetime federal appointments—and President Biden has yet to name a nominee for 60 of those, including two appellate seats. The legislative branch must likewise revisit its obligations to the judiciary.

It’s not enough to confirm nominees to the seats that exist; we need to expand the courts.

[rpbp]

It's my TikTok debut for AFJ Action Campaign (and ever) and your easiest-to-access, quickest-to-process primer on what's going on at the Supreme Court—ethically (or unethically) speaking.

[rpbp]

TFW your cats get top billing, with many thanks to our terrific team at AFJ and pen-wielder extraordinaire Sarah Cooke:

Like her beloved cats Tito and Tita, Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza has lived nine lives and then some. Some highlights from her bio: Yale Law Journal’s inaugural Justine Wise Polier Public Interest Fellow and Director of Making Justice Equal at the Center for American Progress; DNC Deputy National Press Secretary during President’s Obama’s 2008 campaign; legal observer at Guantánamo; and successful plaintiff in a First Amendment lawsuit against President Trump, who blocked her on Twitter for responding to a tweet claiming that he won the White House: “To be fair, Russia won it for you.”  With more than two decades of experience championing progressive causes across five continents, Rebecca joined Alliance for Justice in April 2023 as the Aron Senior Justice Counsel. AFJ is a perfect fit: “It’s pretty hard to find a place where you can find use for politics, journalism, policy, and law all at once,” Rebecca notes. “I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to do so at AFJ.”  As the Aron Senior Justice Counsel—a position named for AFJ Founder Nan Aron to honor her legacy—Rebecca works on federal nominations and confirmations, ethics reform, and legislative and judicial developments. It is a portfolio through which she expands and deepens the public’s knowledge about the federal judiciary, “the least accessible aspect of our government, when it should be the most accessible.” 

[rpbp]

Gotta love it when folks cover the courts—and all the more when there's good news to highlight!

The confirmation of Nancy Ab[u]du to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the southeast and was drastically reshaped by Trump, made her the first Black woman confirmed to that appeals court. When Abudu, an alum of the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center who litigated key voting rights cases, secured Senate approval in mid-May, it was seen as the “tip of the spear” of the current wave, Zwarensteyn said. “It’s not just the question of the jurisdiction for a district court judge or the states that the circuit covers for a circuit court judge,” said Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, a counsel for the left-leaning court advocacy group Counsel at the Alliance for Justice. “But it’s the law that they’re making and how other courts may be influenced by it.”

[rpbp]

Such a pleasure to speak with Scientific American reporter Jesse Greenspan last week about the war over words in the legal profession and its ramifications for access to justice. Excerpts follow and you can read the full piece on Scientific American's site.

Reading through legal documents can be a real slog....As it turns out, even lawyers dislike such impenetrable language; according to a new study, they both prefer and better understand simplified texts....

Contract attorneys largely rely on preexisting templates, which save time and money and are seen as less risky....

But a break from tradition could particularly benefit those who often fall on the margins of the legal system. In immigration proceedings, for example, ensuring that documents are “clear and digestible, not to mention available in multiple languages, could make a pretty big difference for many, many people,” says Rebecca Pilar Buckwalter-Poza, an attorney and progressive advocate. She also cites custody disputes as being in need of simplification, “especially in instances where there’s a domestic violence component or there are other power dynamics in play.” The average U.S. attorney charges some $300 per hour, she notes, and there’s generally no right to counsel in civil proceedings, creating significant hurdles for those who can’t afford a lawyer’s help....

In Ben-Shahar’s view, simplifying these contracts would do nothing to protect consumers, especially when they’re up against “a powerful, well-advised, sophisticated company.” But other legal scholars feel this couldn’t hurt. “Anything that chips away at barriers to justice is a welcome development,” Buckwalter-Poza says.

Read the full piece at Scientific American.

[rpbp]

If Justice Thomas truly believed reviving trust in the Court’s impartiality and integrity was important, he’d resign.

Justice Thomas consistently refused to disclose spousal income and conflicts until 2011, stoking public distrust even back then. When he finally amended 13 years of reports, he did so only in a vague and incomplete fashion despite the fact that his wife, lobbyist Ginni Thomas, earns a considerable income from parties with interests before the court. Lest there be any confusion about just how extreme her views are, recall her attempt to persuade former President Donald Trump not to concede the 2020 election amid the January 6 assault on the Capitol .

That’s bad enough. But, as it turns out, there’s more — a lot more. Over the past 20 years Justice Thomas has accepted millions of dollars in gifts, often in the form of private travel, from a far-right billionaire and major political donor, Harlan Crow. Justice Thomas failed to include those gifts and others — like a $19,000 bible — in disclosures mandated by the Ethics in Government Act. Justice Thomas even sold property to Crow, including the home in which his mother lives, and failed to disclose that, too. Then there’s the fact that Crow gave Ginni Thomas $500,000 to found Tea Party group Liberty Central, cementing her status as a far-right political star.  

A poll conducted from April 8 through 11 found that more than two-thirds of Americans had already learned of Justice Thomas’s trips footed by Crow. Even then, before the full details emerged, a strong majority (58 percent) of Americans asked disapproved of his accepting luxury trips without disclosing them — including 42 percent who “strongly disapproved.”

A Supreme Court justice has resigned over less — just 54 years ago. Justice Abe Fortas was criticized for agreeing to let a former law partner pay for a portrait of Fortas intended for Yale Law. He also accepted payment from American University for teaching a seminar, not knowing that the funds came from former clients and partners. In addition, although comparable to commitments his colleagues made, Fortas was taking a retainer to advise a non-profit foundation.  

[rpbp]

Some professional news. Proud to join the amazing Alliance for Justice at this critical moment for our judiciary—and our democracy.

[rpbp]

Some professional news. Proud to join the amazing Alliance for Justice at this critical moment for our judiciary—and our democracy.

[rpbp]

#AFJ’s made an honest woman of me. 

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza is Aron Senior Justice Counsel at the Alliance for Justice. Rebecca is an activist, advocate, and attorney best known for successfully suing former president Donald Trump under the First Amendment.

A two-decade veteran of Washington and second-generation American, Rebecca has worked on progressive campaigns and policy projects on five continents, including as a Luce Scholar at Hong Kong’s Asian Human Rights Commission and Asian Legal Resource Center and as Deputy National Press Secretary of the Democratic National Committee during President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

RPBP, as she’s also known on Twitter and in person, went on to direct access to justice project Making Justice Equal at the Center for American Progress as a Yale Law Journal Justine Polier Wise Public Interest Fellow, work with NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, and originate the role of Judicial Affairs Editor at Daily Kos. She is a co-founder of Prism, a publication that elevates stories, ideas, and solutions from the underrepresented leaders, thinkers, and activists whose voices are critical to a reflective democracy.

Rebecca co-authored James Carville’s 40 More Years and led research for Paul Begala’s Third Term. A contributor to Pacific Standard, her writing on politics and law has been published by Democracy Journal, Washington Monthly, CNN, NPR, The Daily Beast, The Nation, and The Atlantic, among others. Rebecca has also been featured for her role in advancing free speech protections in publications from The New York Times to Cosmopolitan to The New Yorker.

Rebecca has been a regular guest on the Bill Press Show as well as appearing on multiple podcasts, such as The Electorette, and networks including MSNBC. She has spoken or led panels at conferences and universities from Netroots Nation and Lesbians Who Tech to Yale and Duke University.

Rebecca received her A.B. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Yale Law School. A student of military law who served as an observer at Guantanamo, Rebecca clerked for the Honorable Meg Ryan on the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces as well as the late Honorable Juan R. Torruella on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Rebecca is barred in Virginia and before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Rebecca, who serves on the board of LPAC—the only organization dedicated to electing queer women and non-binary candidates—has been recognized by Glamour, Bitch, and the Harry S Truman Scholarship Foundation for her work in public service and by Tagg, The Washington Blade, and The Office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C., for her contributions to the LGBTQ community.

In her capacity as an LGBTQ Latina activist, comedian, and storyteller, Rebecca has performed in locations from The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to Washington’s 9:30 Club. During her spare time, you’ll find Rebecca writing, hiking, or SCUBA diving.

[rpbp]

It’s a great day to make the cover (online) of a storied LGBTQ2S+ publication older than you are. Even when the news is bad.

When it comes to abortion rights in the United States, activists and courts aren’t facing a fight—they’re embroiled in a war.