The Maggie Phair Institute for Democracy and Human Rights

The pay gap between workers and CEOs at America’s largest low-wage employers is now 670 to 1. That’s obscene. By Sarah Anderson | July 27, 2022 Working families are getting hammered by inflation while corporate leaders and politicians are calling for belt-tightening. But there’s one group of Americans that’s actually profited from increasing prices. Big company CEOs […]

Florida governor and rising GOP star Ron DeSantis has made a favorite hobby of censoring speech and thought. By Jim Hightower | July 27, 2022 Although we haven’t even gotten through this year’s midterm congressional elections, it’s still not too early to start examining some of the characters who hope you’ll make them president in 2024. I […]

Six judges shouldn’t get to overturn the will of voters and destroy our rights. Expand the Supreme Court. By Mitchell Zimmerman | July 13, 2022 Barely a month ago we lived in a world where all Americans had the right to decide for themselves whether to continue a pregnancy. For much of the country, that’s now history. […]

We at the Maggie Phair Institute for Democracy and Human Rights stand in solidarity with the striking UC workers.

Contraceptives banned. Miscarriages prosecuted. Pregnant people under surveillance. Is this the future Americans want? By Mitchell Zimmerman | July 27, 2022 It’s January 2026. The Republican president thanks Congress for banning all abortions and makes an enthusiastic plea for a law that would require a national registry of pregnant women, so their pregnancies could be subject to […]

Stories abound of conservative women who picket out front of clinics quietly coming in the back to get their own abortions. By Sonali Kolhatkar | July 20, 2022 The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was as predictable as it was shocking. Right-wing forces have spent years working to erase the right to abortion, and — for now — they have […]

Much of my adult life has been spent homeless or incarcerated. Here’s how we can help people keep a roof over their heads. By Don Gardner | July 13, 2022 Much of my adult life has been spent homeless or incarcerated. Now I help homeless people and returning citizens. I’ve lived on the streets, been in Hollywood […]

Giving extreme new powers to autocratic, gerrymandered, and unaccountable state governments is not democracy. By Peter Certo | An earlier version of this op-ed was published on May 11, 2022. It was updated on June 29 with new information. The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade — and with it, half a century of constitutional precedent. At […]

Now’s a good time to search out their position. If they oppose your fundamental rights, then it’s your right to send them packing. By Martha Burk | June 29, 2022 Often when we get bad news, someone on the sidelines will say “look on the bright side” and offer some pablum to make us feel better. But […]