July 2, 2021 – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court made a mockery out of a case that had given sexual assault victims across the country new hope that courts would take them seriously – that is, finally dispensing justice to those who had experienced sexual violence, and marking the beginning of…
September 7, 2020 – Recently the DC Appeals Court ruled that Don McGahn, the former White House legal counsel could continue to defy the House Subpoena issued over a year ago, to avoid testifying or producing documents as requested by the House Judiciary Committee. The documents and testimony at the…
July 25, 2020 – In the thick of the night, crowds of protestors chant and sing for social justice, most are peaceful, albeit some infiltrate the crowds and vandalize the city. But peaceful protestors should not be punished for the acts of those who break the law. But, the First…
Discussion on Sexual Assault, Recent Judgments & #MeToo – how the Legal System is all too often more friendly to the ‘alleged’ perpetrator than the victim. Attorney Murphy discusses cases she has been involved where Judge’s trample on the rights of victims, censoring the words they use to describe their assault, making it impossible to describe their ordeal. She describes real cases litigated, including against a judge who ordered the victim to not use ‘certain words’ to describe her brutal unrelenting rape. Clearly, judicial overreach to stifle a victim’s First Amendment Right to choose her words, her speech in a public forum – a court of law. Justice itself is bare if a victim can be ordered to only speak of her ordeal in palatable terms – and not describe what the perpetrator had actually done to her. It is axiomatic, that to get a just result – the ability of the victim to tell her story without judicial censorship and bias is critical for a jury to reach a just result.
A fascinating story that unfortunately, is not out of character with the US judicial system – treating women as second-class citizens, and elevating abusers, and minimizing the effect upon the victim.
Attorney Wendy Murphy. She is a former prosecutor now working as a “victim advocate” and “impact litigator” to assist abused women and children – bringing change to how the courts, legislators, and the public view violence against women and children. She has written numerous briefs in both federal and state courts on Sexual Assault, to violations of Civil & Constitutional Rights – taking place on College Campuses & in the Workplace. Many of her cases and issues are of first impression (never before litigated) in MA and around the nation. She is an adjunct professor of sexual violence law at New England Law – Boston, and often appears as a legal analyst for a variety of news outlets including CNN, PBS & Fox News.
Her book, And Justice for Some is a riveting compendium of insights as a prosecutor as well as a victim advocate – on how lawyers and judges let dangerous criminals go free.
Discussion on how big money is eroding politics – and how corporate lobbying and the Congressional revolving door to lobbying is setting the stage to erode democracy even faster and more completely than ever before.
With the US Supreme Court 2010 ruling in Citizens United – equating money as speech – corporations are now poised to usurp the rights of individual citizens. Hear the facts that lead to today. Understand what needs to be done to save democracy, by learning what the founders envisioned – a government by and for the “people” – real people – not corporations masquerading as people.
How big money is changing the paradigm that big tobacco set in motion decades ago. See the parallels of “corporate personhood” then and now – and how the ruling in “Citizens United” equating money as speech – provides fodder for those who wish to subvert the Constitution for their own financial gain. Hear the facts leading up to today, to understand what needs to be done to restore democracy to what the founders envisioned.
Questions to be discussed: “How can corporations be considered “real” people?” “Do corporations share the same concerns as individuals?” “Are corporations using their newfound rights for the good of the ‘people’ or just themselves?”
If you are asking these questions, you are not alone, and you won’t want to miss: Corporate Personhood: How Big Business, Big Money & Politics is Hijacking the Constitution.
Guest: Attorney Shanna Cleveland – Former Sr. Counsel at ‘Free Speech for People’ an organization devoted to renewing our democracy.
March 25, 2017 – Recently the Senate Judiciary Committee embarked upon confirmation hearings for the open position on the US Supreme Court vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia in February of 2016. The candidate chosen by President Trump is Judge Neil Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Federal Appeals Court…
