Civil Rights

The draft of the Republican platform includes a constitutional amendment that would give legal protection to the unborn, disappointing pro-choice Republicans.

The draft also states that there is "a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy," reports LifeNews.com.

The Republican Majority for Choice, which supports abortion rights within the GOP, called the platform draft's language "extreme" and said the party missed a "huge opportunity" to unify its members.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) says it will begin filing lawsuits as early as tomorrow to challenge gun laws in counties across the country, following today's Supreme Court ruling against D.C.'s ban on handguns.

A suit against San Francisco could come as early as tomorrow, while suits against suburbs of Chicago may be filed as early as next week, NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox told The Hill. The group is reviewing statutes across the country and has yet to determine how many it will file, Cox said. Cox listed six imminent suits in total.

"We certainly are gonna go and challenge any law that treats gun owners as second-class citizens," Cox told The Hill, calling today's decision a "big victory" for gun owners nationwide.

San Francisco bans residents of public housing projects from owning guns; the Chicago suburbs of Wilmette, Oak Park, Morton Grove, Evanston, and Winnetka ban all residents from owning handguns. The NRA will challenge those bans on behalf of its members living there, Cox told The Hill. Read more...

Telecommunications companies donated more money, on average, to Democrats who changed their minds last week and supported immunity for those companies' cooperation with administration wiretapping practices, a report by MAPLight.org finds.

Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T donated $8,359 on average, between January 2005 and March 2008, to 94 House Democrats who switched their stances and voted yes last week on the House's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) overhaul bill.The same companies donated $4,987 on average to those who consistently opposed immunity and voted no, the study finds.

The House FISA bill would likely grant telecommunications companies legal immunity for complying with Bush administration wiretapping practices after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Read more...

Americans United for Change has long opposed many of President Bush's policies, but this year it's found a new way to say it--with a 28-ton bus.

The group today launched its Bush Legacy Bus, a rolling museum dedicated to the "worst policy failures" of the Bush administration. The bus will travel the country for the next five months, stopping in 150 cities and bearing a simple message: that Bush's policies have wreaked havoc on America.

The bus features interactive exhibits on the Iraq war, the economy, and healthcare. A screen displays images of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with captions that criticize the government's response. A chart entitled "not just Bush's war" traces Iraq war support to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). The floor shows a timeline of events in the Bush presidency. Read more...

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) tomorrow will launch a tour through California, Nevada, and Colorado in opposition of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gay and lesbian servicemembers. The tour will start in San Diego, then will proceed to Las Vegas, Denver, and Palm Springs.

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The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) criticized the Bush administration today for lobbying Congress to oppose the so-called "media shield" bill, officially titled the Free Flow of Information Act.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Attorney General Michael Mukasey all sent letters to key senators each sent letters to Senate leaders and key committee chairmen expressing intelligence, security, and law enforcement concerns over the bill. The Justice Dept. also launched a website yesterday dedicated to opposing the bill.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), seeks to "protect the free flow of information to the public" by providing conditions under which the government can compel journalists to release information. The administration says these conditions are too restrictive.

"This is the Administration