Civil and Human Rights Coalition: Confirm Goodwin Liu
Washington, D.C. –– The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national civil and human rights organizations, is calling on senators to swiftly confirm Professor Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In a letter to senators, The Leadership Conference praised Professor Liu’s impeccable legal credentials and thoughtful, mainstream approach to interpreting the law:
“Professor Liu’s writings and other legal work show that he takes a highly thoughtful approach to difficult issues, carefully analyzing all sides of arguments and reaching conclusions based on well-established law rather than political ideology. While our organizations do not agree in every instance with the positions that he has taken, we have always found him to display the highest levels of intellectual honesty, independent thinking, and commitment to fairness.…”
The letter points out that Professor Liu’s nomination has attracted support from “across the political and philosophical spectrum.” Well-known conservatives including Kenneth Starr, former Representative Tom Campbell, and Richard Painter have praised Liu as an outstanding nominee who deserves to be confirmed.
Liu was initially nominated in February 2010 and is one of dozens of nominees whose confirmation votes have been delayed due political obstruction despite a growing vacancy crisis on the federal bench. “Professor Liu is highly qualified, thoughtful, and talented,” said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference. “There was no legitimate reason that the judiciary needed to wait 15 months just to have his nomination considered on the Senate floor.”
The full text of the letter is below.
///
CONFIRM GOODWIN LIU TO THE 9TH CIRCUIT
May 18, 2011
Dear Senator:
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, we write to express our strong support for the confirmation of Professor Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Liu’s stellar background, his intellectual honesty and independence, and his utmost respect for the Constitution and its values all make him an outstanding candidate. We urge the Senate to vote “yes” on cloture and “yes” on his confirmation.
Professor Liu’s credentials are truly outstanding. The son of Taiwanese immigrants who instilled in him a tremendous commitment to democracy and an abiding love of education, Liu graduated from his high school as a co-valedictorian, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, and subsequently studied in Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. At Yale Law School, he distinguished himself by serving as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and through numerous awards for his oral advocacy and writing skills. Following law school, he served as a law clerk for both Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, interrupting his clerkships only for a stint with the U.S. Department of Education in which he worked on policies affecting disadvantaged children.
In 2003, after several years in private practice with the prominent law firm O’Melveny & Myers, Liu joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). Within five years, he earned tenure and was promoted to Associate Dean. At the same time, he has remained active as a practicing attorney and a policy advisor, and has written extensively on education, constitutional law, and a number of other issues.
Professor Liu’s writings and other legal work show that he takes a highly thoughtful approach to difficult issues, carefully analyzing all sides of arguments and reaching conclusions based on well-established law rather than political ideology. While our organizations do not agree in every instance with the positions that he has taken, we have always found him to display the highest levels of intellectual honesty, independent thinking, and commitment to fairness – meaning that he will ensure that litigants before him will feel certain, regardless of the outcome, that they were given a fair day in court. It is no wonder that his nomination has garnered strong support, from across the political and philosophical spectrum, among those who know him best.
We hope you will support cloture on Professor Liu’s nomination. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Wade Henderson, President & CEO
Nancy Zirkin, Executive Vice President