For Liberals, High Stakes at High Court

Another Defeat Could Tarnish Credibility as Advocacy Force

By Thomas B. Edsall and Michael A. Fletcher

Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, July 11, 2005; Page A01

Ralph G. Neas, president of the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way, began the George W. Bush years leading the fight against the president's 2001 tax cut. He lost.

Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, has been a leading voice in opposition to provisions in the USA Patriot Act that he and other civil rights leaders say needlessly restrict civil liberties. So far, the act is unchanged.