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The second half of the 20th century saw monumental shifts in civil rights in the United States, with the end of legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement affecting all spheres of life, from education to health care to housing to marriage and more. Judge David S. Tatel is a civil rights lawyer who has contributed to key advancements in voting rights, educational equality, and disability rights. Over the course of his five-decade career, he has served as Director of the National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, as Director of the Office for Civil Rights during the Carter administration, and as a federal judge on the D.C. Circuit, considered the second highest court in America. Judge Tatel also happens to be blind, due to a rare genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa. In 2024, he published a book titled Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice. Over the course of our conversation, Judge Tatel opens up about how he has wrestled with vision impairment in both his legal career and his personal life. He discusses what it was like to be diagnosed with an incurable, progressive, blinding disease as a teenager, how he struggled to make sense of his identity as a blind individual even as his career was taking off, his philosophy as a lawyer, how his beautiful relationship with his wife and children have helped him navigate the world, and how he met his guide dog, Vixen. Judge Tatel's legacy is one of judicial integrity, a lifelong commitment to equality, and a testament to the boundless potential of individuals living with disabilities.In this episode, you'll hear about: 3:45 - Judge Tatel's experience of being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa as a teenager 15:33 - The inspiration that led Judge Tatel to focus his legal career on civil rights22:47 - Judge Tatel's experience of progressively losing his vision while ascending in his legal career 28:05 - Visual elements of life that Judge Tatel misses and how he now “experiences” vision33:12 - Why Judge Tatel regrets concealing the truth about his blindness early in his career 37:01 - How Judge Tatel's blindness has influenced his civil rights work44:45 - Judge Tatel's concerns about the future of democracy in the United States 46:27 - The ways in which getting a guide dog late in life changed Judge Tatel's sense of freedom and his perspective on blindness 49:06 - Judge Tatel's advice to his former self Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.Copyright The Doctor's Art Podcast 2024
Leslie begins today's show with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment. Here are the stories that she gave her take on: 1. AUDIO: 911 call played today at Derek Chauvin trial of witness who called 911 on the officers at the scene because he believed he "witnessed a murder" 2. AXIOS: "Report: 67% of students who planned school shootings had "potential access" to guns" 3. AXIOS: "Biden announces new actions to combat anti-Asian violence" 4. AXIOS: "Biden's spending plans could remake the economy, says Nobel Prize winner Stiglitz" 5. AXIOS: "Biden's big, global climate power play" 6. AXIOS: "Biden to nominate groundbreaking first slate of federal judges" Leslie is then joined by Damon Hewitt, Acting President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), who leads one of the country’s most important and long-tenured national civil rights organizations in the pursuit of equal justice for all. They discuss a federal lawsuit filed by the Lawyers' Committee and other pro-democracy groups, which says that Georgia’s new SB202 law is a culmination of concerted efforts to suppress the participation of black voters and other voters of color. The groups allege that SB202 threatens the right to vote of all Georgians, but that its most negative impacts will be felt by communities that were specifically targeted by the Georgia State Legislature. The website for the Lawyers’ Committee is lawyerscommittee.org and their Twitter handle is @LawyersComm. Damon's handle is @DamonTHewitt. Additionally, the Lawyers’ Committee powers '866-OUR-VOTE,' which is working 365 days a year to advance and defend your right to vote. You can call 866-OUR-VOTE with your voting questions and issues. Their website is 866OURVOTE.org.
How did we get here? How did we get to the end of a week in which Americans cast 160 million votes, the highest number ever in a general election and the highest voter turnout among eligible citizens in over a hundred years (https://www.newsweek.com/election-2020-voter-turnout-67-percent-highest-120-years-1544552) , a week in which one candidate received almost 4 million votes more than the other one (https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-11-05/bidens-popular-vote-lead-over-trump-eclipses-clintons-in-2016) , and we still don’t know who our next president is? Last week on System Check, your hosts Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren dug into all the different ways this country makes it hard for people to cast their ballot. But it’s one thing to vote—on this week’s show, they explain why it’s a whole other thing to get that vote to matter. It’s time for a system check on how your vote gets counted. Any conversation about representation in our democracy has to start at the foundationally unequal institution of the electoral college. Rashad Robinson (https://twitter.com/rashadrobinson) , President of Color of Change and Spokesperson for Color of Change PAC, joins us to discuss how barriers to casting and counting the votes of Black Americans have been “baked in” to our political system. Next up, Kristen Clarke (https://lawyerscommittee.org/staff/kristen-clarke/) , President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, weighs in on the Republican strategy to nominate and confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Is it a coincidence that Barrett has just been confirmed to the court—one leg of the conservative movement’s “three-legged stool” of countermajoritarian rule (https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/10/21/the-gonzo-constitutionalism-of-the-american-right/) —just in time to strike down the will of the majority of voters? Our history is important, and can the dark periods in our past can help guide us through our struggles today. Professor Blair Kelley (https://www.profblmkelley.com/) of North Carolina State University offers both a deeply historical and personal perspective on voter suppression, grounded in her family’s own experiences during slavery, reconstruction, and in the Jim Crow South. Just as racism helps explain the particular ways in which our institutions were formed, it also provides a cudgel for those in power, and those who feel threatened by equality, today. The Nation’s own Sports Editor, Dave Zirin (https://www.thenation.com/authors/dave-zirin/) , joined us on our Election Night live coverage and reminds us of a single key insight to help make sense of the election results. And Cristina Beltran (https://www.thetroublewithunity.com/the-trouble-with-unity/) of NYU, author of Cruelty as Citizenship: How Migrant Suffering Sustains White Democracy (https://manifold.umn.edu/projects/cruelty-as-citizenship) , joined us to help us think about how “white domination” is in fact, a civic experience for non-white voters hoping to cast a vote and have it count. But it wouldn’t be a System Check if we didn’t talk about the ways we can get out of our current mess. The Nation’s Strikes Correspondent, Jane McAlevey (https://www.thenation.com/authors/jane-mcalevey/) , talked to us about the intersection of a movement moment with a presidential election, and the necessity of non-violent, direct action. And two Members of Congress join us to talk about what is to be done once the votes are counted: Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (https://www.thenation.com/authors/pramila-jayapal/) instructs us on a path forward that centers intersectionality, and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass (https://bass.house.gov/about/biography) reminds us of the necessity of outside pressure on all elected officials (Bass, like so many progressive champions (https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a34572845/election-2020-the-squad-reelected/) , won her reelection bid this week (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-california-house-district-37.html) ). Finally, Dreamer Astrid Silva (https://twitter.com/Astrid_NV?s=20) of Dream Big Nevada has the last word this week as she talks to us about what this election means for millions like her who are unable to vote, whose fates hinge on the final vote count, but who remain hopeful, no matter the outcome. Looking to turn all this analysis into action? We give listeners three action items this week: Demand Twitter and Facebook suspend Trump’s accounts for spreading lies and misinformation about the election (https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/facebooktwitter_suspendtrump/?t=3&ak_proof=1&akid=47766.3618562.D_ggQO) . Support the runoffs and help us do the work to ensure every vote is counted. (https://www.mobilize.us/colorofchangepac/event/362488/?utm_source=volcall1104) Listen to our 5-hour Election Night Livestream (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R94wvTRZze4) for cogent, real-time analysis with an array of insightful voices, from scholars to grassroots organizers on the ground. System Check is a project of The Nation magazine, hosted by Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren and produced by Sophia Steinert-Evoy. Support for System Check comes from Omidyar Network, a social change venture that is reimagining how capitalism should work. Learn more about their efforts to recenter our economy around individuals, community, and societal well-being at Omidyar.com (https://omidyar.com/) . Our executive producer is Frank Reynolds. DD Guttenplan is Editor of The Nation, Erin O’Mara is President of The Nation. Our theme music is by Brooklyn-based artist and producer Jachary (https://jachary.bandcamp.com/) .
This is Axios Special Election 2020 coverage. There have been some significant voting problems so far today, including wrongly-programmed poll books in parts of Georgia, but "the whole country is not on fire," according to Kristen Clarke, president of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is Axios Special Election 2020 coverage. There have been some significant voting problems so far today, including wrongly-programmed poll books in parts of Georgia, but "the whole country is not on fire," according to Kristen Clarke, president of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
At the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, voting activist and civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer described the violent injustice she and others had endured while living under the South's Jim Crow rules and fighting for the right to vote: "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!”Over 50 years later, ahead of the 2020 election, we see record early voting across the country. Even so, serious efforts aimed at voter suppression persist, including curbing access to mail-in voting and shutting down polling locations. So, what are the biggest threats to voting rights today? How is voter suppression showing up in the 2020 election? What can we do to ensure that our elections remain free and fair? Helping us to sort out these questions and more are very special guests:Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Clarke leads one of the nation’s most important national civil rights organizations in the pursuit of equal justice for all. She is the author of Barack Obama and African American Empowerment: The Rise of Black America’s New Leadership.Judge Glenda Hatchett, who served as senior attorney at Delta Airlines before becoming the chief presiding judge of Fulton County Georgia Juvenile Court in Atlanta. Her law firm, the Hatchett Firm, represented Philando Castille’s estate in the wake of his tragic death. She presides over the two-time Emmy-nominated courtroom series, Judge Hatchett, now in its 16th season. Most recently, she has returned to TV in her new television court series, The Verdict with Judge Hatchett. Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center—and the first Black woman to hold that title. She is an active participant on the governance council of the Southern Movement Assembly, and an organizer with Concerned Citizens for Justice. She has served on the National Council of the Student Environmental Action Coalition. Rate and review “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin" to let us know what you think of the show! Let’s show the power of independent feminist media.Check out this episode’s landing page at MsMagazine.com for a full transcript, links to articles referenced in this episode, further reading and ways to take action. Support the show (http://msmagazine.com)
SPEAKERS Ari Berman Senior Reporter, Mother Jones; Author, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America Kristen Clarke President and Executive Director, National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Alex Padilla California Secretary of State Michael Waldman President, Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law—Moderator In response to the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, this program took place and was recorded live via video conference, for an online audience only, and was live-streamed by The Commonwealth Club of California from San Francisco on October 19th, 2020.
Is all this our fault for not getting Merrick Garland on the bench under President Obama? On this episode of #On1WithAngelaRye, Angela is joined by an all-star legal panel to discuss the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Obama vs Trump judicial picks, and how to fight (even expand!!) the courts. Panelists include: Kristen Clarke - President and Executive Director, National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Christopher Kang - Chief Counsel, Demand Justice Elie Mystal - Justice Correspondent, The Nation Tina Tchen - President and CEO, Time’s Up
Leslie begins the show by giving her take on the latest news in 'Ripped from the Headlines.' Here are the stories that she commented on: 1. AUDIO: Attorney General Bill Barr tells House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler that he's discussed President Trump's re-election effort with him, but declines to elaborate when questioned about it 2. AUDIO: Rep. Cedric Richmond tells Barr that when he took over DOJ, he put no Black people into top staff roles, which speaks volumes 3. AUDIO: Rep. Steve Cohen calls out Bill Barr for his unconstitutional secret police and Epstein’s suicide of convenience 4. AUDIO: Barr is asked by Rep. Eric Swalwell whether he is investigating Trump for intervening in Roger Stone's sentencing 5. AXIOS: Press freedom incidents have surged during police protests 6. AXIOS: Biden to unveil plan to address racial inequality 7. Richmond Police: Richmond riots instigated by white supremacists disguised as Black Lives Matter 8. The Daily Beast: "Trump’s New Favorite COVID Doctor Believes in Alien DNA, Demon Sperm, and Hydroxychloroquine" Then, Leslie is joined by Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the country’s most important and long-tenured national civil rights organizations in the pursuit of equal justice for all. Leslie and Kristen talk about the legacy of the late Congressman John Lewis, and how he championed civil rights for over 60 years, including being one of the original 13 'Freedom Riders' in 1961. They also discuss how the Lawyers’ Committee is leading a coalition of civil rights groups that is demanding that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hold hearings and vote to restore the Voting Rights Act (something that Rep. Lewis tirelessly fought for right up until the end of his life). The website for the Lawyers’ Committee is lawyerscommittee.org and their Twitter handle is @LawyersComm. Kristen's handle is @KristenClarkeJD. Additionally, the Lawyers’ Committee powers '866-OUR-VOTE,' which is working 365 days a year to advance and defend your right to vote. You can call 866-OUR-VOTE with your voting questions and issues! (Remember this number between now and Election day!) Their website is 866OURVOTE.org.
Kirsten Clarke is the president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The committee was established in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to address the inequities confronting African Americans and other minorities. Clarke believes that reversing, or preventing, the disenfranchisement of millions of American voters is central to her work and that voter suppression is solvable. Here are a few of the resources related to this episode: National Mail Voter Registration Form (multilingual) Voter Registration and Election Dates (by state) Solvable is produced by Camille Baptista, Jocelyn Frank and Catherine Girardeau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
BLACK LIVES MATTER. How do we change the culture? Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by three remarkable guests to discuss the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement, police brutality and accountability, the murder of George Floyd, white supremacy and privilege, our country’s systematic and systemic racist structure, and more. Joining Aaron for today’s critically important conversation is Alvin Bragg, a law professor and most recently the Chief Deputy Attorney General in the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Victoria Davis, a Community Activist and Leader who lost her brother, Delrawn Small, to senseless police violence in 2016. Like Delrawn, George Floyd was a son, a father, a brother, and a friend. Floyd is the most recent name on a far too-long list of people stolen away from their families, friends and communities. In today’s episode, Aaron, Victoria, Kristen, and Alvin delve into the deep-seated roots of racism in our country, the issues of police abuse, brutality, militarization and accountability, the importance of solidarity, education, honesty and understanding, as well as how we move forward. How do we talk about racism? How do we dismantle white supremacy? How do we make change? What fills the silence if we don’t speak out and stand up? Alvin Bragg has spent the better part of two decades in the courtroom, standing up to the powerful and fighting to get justice. A graduate from Harvard Law, Alvin joined New York Law School in 2019 as a Visiting Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Racial Justice Project. Professor Bragg’s research focuses on the intersection of criminal law and civil rights, prosecutorial discretion and accountability, and the functions of state Attorneys General. Most recently, Alvin served as Chief Deputy Attorney General in the New York State Office of the Attorney General. In that role, he reported directly to the Attorney General, helped set the office’s investigation and litigation priorities, and oversaw the work of the Criminal Justice and Social Justice Divisions. Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, leads one of the country’s most important national civil rights organizations in the pursuit of equal justice for all. Throughout her career, Ms. Clarke has focused on work that seeks to strengthen our democracy by combating discrimination faced by African Americans and other marginalized communities. Kristen formerly served as the head of the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office, where she led broad civil rights enforcement on matters including criminal justice issues, education and housing discrimination, fair lending, barriers to reentry, voting rights, immigrant’s rights, general inequality, disability rights, reproductive access and LGBT issues. On July 4, 2016 Delrawn Small was killed on Atlantic Avenue in East New York. His sister, Victoria Davis, is a staunch community activist and leader for police accountability in New York and continues to share her brother’s memory and story with the world in the hopes of demanding accountability, and maybe one day justice. To learn more about Alvin Bragg, please visit his website here. You can also find his bio page at New York Law School here. To learn more about Kristen Clarke, please visit her bio page here. To find out more about the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, please visit their website here. To learn more about Delrawn Small, Victoria Davis’ brother, and their family’s story, please reference the attached 2017 New York Times article here. For resources and to learn more about the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement, as well as how you can help, please click here. Host: Aaron Freiwald Guests: Alvin Bragg, Kristen Clarke, and Victoria Davis Follow Good Law | Bad Law: YouTube: Good Law | Bad Law Facebook: @GOODLAWBADLAW Instagram: @GoodLawBadLaw Website: https://www.law-podcast.com
Leslie begins the show with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment. Here are the stories she covers during the segment: 1. NBC NEWS: "Fact check: Coronavirus vaccine could come this year, Trump says. Experts say he needs a 'miracle' to be right." 2. NBC NEWS: "House to vote on Democrats' $3T coronavirus 'HEROES' aid: Stimulus checks, money for states, rent assistance" 3. AXIOS: "Ousted vaccine chief: I was told my pandemic warnings were "causing a commotion"" 4. AXIOS: "UN issues dire economic report as WHO warns coronavirus "may never go away"" 5. AXIOS: "Another 3 million Americans filed for unemployment last week" During the second half of the show, Leslie is joined by Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), which is one of the country’s most important and long-tenured national civil rights organizations in the pursuit of equal justice for all. The Lawyers’ Committee seeks to promote fair housing and community development, economic justice, voting rights, equal educational opportunity, criminal justice, judicial diversity and more. The two discuss protecting the U.S. Postal Service, and expanding vote-by-mail for Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clarke released the following statement about the recent murky departure of Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman: “We are sounding an alarm regarding the departure of Ronald Stroman from the Postal Service. The Postal Service lies at the heart of our democracy and is critical to the success of an unprecedented vote-by-mail system that is needed for a fair and effective 2020 election season. The Postal Service is also a lifeline for vulnerable people who are counting on mail delivery for medication, stimulus payments, and more. Stroman’s untimely departure signals deepening chaos and disruption inside the Postal Service at a critical moment during the 2020 election season. “We call on Congress to convene oversight hearings to determine whether the recent wave of leadership shifts at the Postal Service stands to harm the public by jeopardizing implementation of the Census and vote-by-mail amid the pandemic.” The website for the Lawyers’ Committee is lawyerscommittee.org and their Twitter handle is @LawyersComm. Kristen's handle is @KristenClarkeJD. Additionally, the Lawyers’ Committee powers '866-OUR-VOTE,' which is working 365 days a year to advance and defend your right to vote. You can call 866-OUR-VOTE with your voting questions and issues! (Remember this number between now and Election day!) Their website is 866OURVOTE.org. You can watch this episode here: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1mrGmQakykkGy
Is the state of Georgia going to disenfranchise voters over missing hyphens on voter registration cards? What can be done about new strict voting rules, such as the North Dakota residential address rule that may disenfranchise Native American voters? Will the Supreme Court with new Justice Kavanaugh protect minority voting rights? On Season 2, Episode 3 of the ELB Podcast, we talk with Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
A half century after the Voting Rights Act guaranteed the franchise to all Americans, access to this fundamental right is once again under siege. How did a group of great citizens drive the enactment of the Voting Rights Act? How did the legislation work to secure access to the ballot? Why is its pledge once again under attack? In an extraordinary and relevant conversation, legendary television journalist Bill Moyers — who served as one of President Lyndon Johnson’s top aides during the civil rights era — will discuss the epochal events of the “Second Reconstruction.” He will be joined by two leaders of the current fight for democracy and veterans of courtrooms across the country in the fight against voter suppression — Kristen Clarke of the National Lawyers' Committee and Myrna Pérez of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program. Kristen Clarke, President & Executive Director, National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Bill Moyers, President, Schumann Media Center Myrna Pérez, Deputy Director, Brennan Center's Democracy Program and leader of the Center’s Voting Rights and Elections project This event is part of Carnegie Hall’s The ’60s: The Years that Changed America festival.
Dahlia is joined by Kristen Clarke, President & Executive Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to talk about the federal judiciary and how Donald Trump is speedily filling the vacancies on the federal bench. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices