Jill Stein sues FEC, CPD, others

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who was arrested last week outside of Hofstra University before the second debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, sued the Federal Elections Commission, the Commission of Presidential Debates, the Republican National Committee, the Democratic National Committee and Lynn University on Monday for depriving her of her "constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, and free speech, as well as her statutorily protected civil rights."

In a statement on her website, Stein explained that she wanted to prevent the debate from happening because it excluded her and other viable candidates.

"Our constitution is supposed to protect us against manipulations of democracy of the kind scheduled tonight, and I hope the court will act now to stop this farce, but either way, we will keep up the fight, and one of these days American elections and our debates will be reclaimed by the American people," she said.

Meanwhile, a nonpartisan civic organization called Free & Equal will host a debate tonight between Stein, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode, and Justice Party candidate Rocky Anderson. That debate starts at 9 p.m. and will be broadcast by Al Jazeera and Russia Today.

According to Stein's campaign manager, Ben Manski, none of the major U.S. cable networks are airing the debate, which will be moderated by Larry King.

"It shouldn't be the case that the only TV networks bringing this debate to the American people are based in countries whose political systems are even less democratic than our own," Manski said in a statement. "The failure of CNN, MSNBC, and others to broadcast the debate only adds to the global perception that the United States doesn't live up to the democratic standards it professes."

You can read Stein's lawsuit here.