-- by Donald Cohen, Cry Wolf Project

In February 2005, Patti Phillips sat by her daughter's bedside during the weeks before Stephanie Phillips died of bone cancer. Patti was able to be at her daughter's side the day she died because of the federal law that allows millions of Americans to take family leave without risking their jobs. "You want to be there with your child.... and you don't want to worry about your job," said Phillips, 49, an inventory specialist at Coca-Cola in Atlanta. "The law gives you peace of mind."

Katherine Forrest is a federal judge in New York appointed by President Obama to fill the spot vacated by bank battler Jed Rakoff when he went on senior status. Within months of taking the job, Forrest blocked the president and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta from enforcing aspects of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. The plaintiff, Chris Hedges, and groups objecting to the policy -- including the Center for Media and Democracy -- argued that the law is so broadly written that it could be used to permit the military to arrest U.S. citizens and detain them indefinitely for exercising their freedom of speech and of the press.

Contact: Nikolina Lazic, nikolina@prwatch.org

2,000 Public Officials Have Already Expressed Support for Constitutional Amendment

WASHINGTON – This week The Center for Media & Democracy and ally organizations applauded the re-launch of the "Declaration For Democracy" campaign. Public officials signing the declaration are proclaiming their support for amending the constitution to limit the influence of money in our democracy and to restore the rights of the American people in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC.