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Ralph G. Neas


Self Description

August 2004: "...As President of People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation since 2000, Ralph has increased the members and supporters of People For from 300,000 to 675,000. He has been a national leader in the efforts to preserve an independent and fair judiciary and to challenge the far-right movement to reverse decades of social justice progress. In addition, he has helped put together and lead coalitions to block a permanent and massive tax cut, to establish the Election Protection program (to help make sure every vote counts), to help build a progressive movement and infrastructure across the country, to amend the USA Patriot Act, and to defend and reform our nation’s public schools....

Ralph G. Neas, a native of Brookline, Massachusetts, earned his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. Ralph has taught at Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Chicago Law School, the University of Iowa Law School, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. From 1995 through 1999, Neas was president of The Neas Group. In 1998, he was the Democratic candidate for Congress from Maryland's 8th Congressional District."

Third-Party Descriptions

September 2007: Ralph Neas, president emeritus of People for the American Way, contends that Ledbetter's case holds the potential of capturing the public's interest in a way that higher-profile cases involving abortion and race do not.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/04/AR2007090401900.html

April 2007: Abortion-rights advocates condemned the ruling. 'Today's 5-to-4 decision is further proof that the confirmation of right-wing nominees to the Supreme Court has disastrous consequences for American' rights and liberties,' said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0419/p01s03-usju.html

October 2005: Liberals jumped on Dobson's comments to accuse the White House of imposing a religious litmus test, or of invoking faith to signal to conservatives that Miers would rule as they wish on such questions as restricting abortion rights. Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, noted that conservatives complained when anyone questioned the influence of faith during the recent confirmation of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201381.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) People for the American Way (PFAW) Organization Aug 18, 2004

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Sep 05, 2007 Exhibit A in Painting Court as Too Far Right

QUOTE: The business community is scrambling to fight what would be the first legislative initiative of the Democratically controlled Congress to overturn a decision by the emerging conservative majority on the court, headed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

 Washington Post
Apr 19, 2007 US Supreme Court allows late-term abortion ban: The 5-to-4 ruling upholds a ban on 'partial-birth' abortion. In 2000, the court had struck down a similar ban.

QUOTE: The decision marks the first time since the landmark abortion precedent Roe v. Wade in 1973 that the nation's highest court has ruled in a way that places considerations of a woman's health as secondary to efforts by the government to restrict abortion procedures performed prior to fetal viability. That shift could embolden antiabortion forces to try to enact more restrictions at the state level.

 Christian Science Monitor
Nov 09, 2005 Alito's Loyalty to Precedent Is Cited

QUOTE: In private meetings with senators who support abortion rights, Alito has said the Supreme Court should be quite wary of reversing decisions that have been repeatedly upheld, according to the senators who said it was clear that the context was abortion.

 Washington Post
Oct 13, 2005 Role of Religion Emerges as Issue

QUOTE: President Bush said yesterday that it was appropriate for the White House to invoke Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's religion in making the case for her to skeptical conservatives, triggering a debate over what role, if any, her evangelical faith should play in the confirmation battle.

 Washington Post
Jul 29, 2005 Judge's Reagan-Era Work Criticized: Papers Show Roberts's Conservatism, Liberal Activists Say

QUOTE: ...[Judge John G. Roberts Jr.--Ed.] advocated a narrow interpretation of a variety of civil rights laws, and presented a defense of congressional efforts to strip the Supreme Court of jurisdiction over busing, abortion and school prayer cases.

 Washington Post
Aug 07, 2004 Bush Opposes 'Legacy' Edge in College Admissions: The president, a Yale graduate like his father, grandfather and daughter, says children of alumni should not get special consideration.

QUOTE: ...Bush said he favored programs that increased diversity in the student body, but was against quotas for minority groups, as well as so-called legacy admissions.

 Los Angeles Times