Graham’s Priorities are Wrong: Focus on the National Crises, Not Advancing an Unfit Nominee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rafael Medina, [email protected], 202.869.0390

WASHINGTON – Lena Zwarensteyn, Fair Courts Campaign Director at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance the nomination of Justin Walker to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit:

“This is like painting your house while it’s engulfed in flames. Communities are devastated by the pandemics of COVID-19 and fatal police killings and other violence against Black people. Meanwhile, Trump, McConnell, and Graham are rewarding Justin Walker with a lifetime seat on the D.C. Circuit for his relentless fidelity to their personal and political causes. Their desperate rush to fill a seat not scheduled to become vacant until September – in the midst of this crisis – is shameful.

“Walker sees a judge’s role as one where he can carry out his agenda to protect the powerful, such as stripping our health care during a pandemic. Meanwhile, the rest of us lose our rights. He has indicated his opposition to health care access, and he is unfit and unable to preside fairly over the most important civil and human rights cases of our time. The full Senate must reject him. If this nomination moves forward, senators will have to explain to their constituents why they voted to roll back our rights during an unprecedented national crisis.”

Read The Leadership Conference’s letter in opposition to the confirmation of Justin Walker.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.