Senators Schumer, Booker, Civil Rights Groups Oppose this Sham Process and Barrett’s Nomination
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Rafael Medina, The Leadership Conference, [email protected], 202.869.0390;
Laurie Kinney, People For the American Way, [email protected], 571.882.3615;
Zack Ford, Alliance for Justice, [email protected], 717.512.5819;
Olympia Feil, National Women’s Law Center, [email protected], 202-588-5180;
Phoebe Plagens, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, [email protected], 212.965.2235;
Sandra Hernandez, MALDEF, [email protected], 310.386.5768;
Protect Our Care, [email protected]
Nick Morrow, Human Rights Campaign, [email protected], 865.386.8244
WASHINGTON – On a press call today, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D. N.Y., Senator Cory Booker, D. N.J., and civil rights leaders urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. The committee is scheduled to take a vote to advance her nomination tomorrow.
To hear a recording of the call, click here.
Speakers on the call voiced their opposition to the Senate’s misplaced priorities, sham process, and Barrett’s deeply concerning record, saying in part:
“President Trump and Senate Republicans have conducted the most rushed, most partisan, least legitimate Supreme Court nomination process in our nation’s entire history. And it’s no secret why. President Trump has said explicitly that he wants Judge Barrett on the bench to decide on the ACA case that will be heard by the Supreme Court one week after the election, and to rule in his favor if we have a contested election,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D. N.Y. “Senate Democrats will continue to fight the nomination of Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court, because health care for millions of Americans and our fundamental rights are at stake.”
“This rushed, illegitimate process has denied the American people the ability to make their voices heard at a time when we are in the middle of an election that over 30 million people have already voted in during a global public health crisis,” said Senator Cory Booker, D. N.J. “The American people know that this is not normal. We cannot stand idly by as Donald Trump and his allies subvert the will of the American people and follow through on their years-long crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act and overturn Roe v. Wade. There’s simply too much at stake.”
“Senate Republicans’ misplaced priorities left millions astray amid a pandemic, an election cycle, and calls for racial justice,” said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “Now, Leader McConnell and Chairman Graham’s priority is to disregard the more than 35 million people who have already voted to rush this sham confirmation process. Donald Trump picked Barrett because her record reflects his desire to put powerful interest ahead of people’s rights. Barrett’s record is clear, and she did nothing to allay our serious concerns during her hearing. The Senate must reject this nomination.”
“We’re asking every senator to vote against Amy Coney Barrett for the sake of the health care of the American people and the sake of our democracy. And for any senator who votes for Amy Coney Barrett, we at PFAW will be asking the people of this country to vote against you, and the people of your state to vote against you. The harm she will do to our democracy and to the health care of our people will be irreparable and deep. Thank you to everyone standing up for our health care. Thank you to everyone who is working to defend our democracy. And thank you in advance to every senator who will vote No Amy Coney Barrett,” said Ben Jealous, president, People For the American Way.
“We knew before the hearing that Barrett holds extreme views on reproductive rights and freedom – and her hearing made that even clearer,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. “She dismissed countless questions by saying that her personal views are separate from her legal views. But we take cold comfort in that since her legal rulings line up exactly with her personal views. Her harmful positions on issues of gender justice extend to sexual violence, and the rights of LGBTQ people. We deserve a justice who will fight for the civil rights of women and girls, and all of us.”
“This rushed confirmation process is an affront to the monumental responsibility of the Senate’s constitutional ‘advise and consent’ authority,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF). “Too much is at stake – including core civil rights protections in areas of voting, affirmative action, and Fair Housing – to prioritize politics over a careful review of the record of a Supreme Court nominee. For Americans – disproportionately Black and Latino, who are suffering from the devastating health and financial effects of the COVID pandemic and who have been awaiting Senate action on a relief bill — the willingness to rush through this nomination is particularly galling. All of this, combined with Judge Barrett’s deeply troubling record and her unwillingness to be forthcoming on a range of critical issues at her confirmation hearings, should leave the Senate Judiciary Committee with no other choice but to reject her nomination.”
“In the future, the Supreme Court will consider more and more cases with a primary impact on the large and growing Latino community, and the foreshortened confirmation process has prevented thoughtful consideration of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s familiarity and experience with issues of concern to the Latino population,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. “In this way, as in so many others, this obscene rush to confirm has de-legitimized the nominee, eroded the integrity of the Court, and undermined the Constitution.”
“Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are trying to rush through this anti-ACA Supreme Court nominee to finally accomplish what they haven’t been able to do legislatively — completely dismantle the Affordable Care Act,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “One week after Election Day, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in California v. Texas, Trump’s lawsuit to completely dismantle the Affordable Care Act. If Judge Coney Barrett is installed on the court, her vote to overturn the law will leave millions of Americans without health care during the worst public health crisis our nation has faced in a century, which would throw our entire health care system into chaos.”
“Amy Coney Barrett has shown us who she is – someone who is hostile to the rights of LGBTQ people. Her professional actions as a scholar and jurist raise significant concerns about her ability to be impartial and fair when considering cases that impact the LGBTQ community. In her hearing, she shockingly refused to say that landmark Supreme Court cases that decriminalized relationships between LGBTQ people and subsquently legalized marriages for same-sex couples were correctly decided. These cases go to the core of LGBTQ rights and her failure to even recognize their precedential value is enough to disqualify her to serve on the Court. The fact that we have now learned – during a rushed hearing process that should not be occurring – that she held a position atop a network of schools that discriminated against LGBTQ parents and students, serves as yet another warning as to the type of anti-LGBTQ bias that she would bring to the Supreme Court if confirmed,” said Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “There is no room for hate or discrimination on the Supreme Court. If Barrett is confirmed, our marriages, our families, our health care and our LGBTQ youth would be at risk. This upcoming term and beyond, we expect crucial cases about the future of LGBTQ rights to appear before the Court. Amy Coney Barrett poses a clear threat to any progress we can expect to see from the Court and her record shows she will take every opportunity to oppose us and scale back our rights.”
“With this nomination, we are watching the erosion of democracy in real time,” said Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice. “We know who Barrett is and what she’ll do. Barrett is an ultraconservative who will erode our critical rights and freedoms. She will cause irreparable harm to the lives of the American people. AFJ will be on the frontlines to restore fairness and independence to our Supreme Court. The fight is not over.”
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About The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
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.
About People For the American Way
People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. We encourage civic participation, defend fundamental rights, and fight to dismantle systemic barriers to equitable opportunity. Learn more: http://www.pfaw.org.
About Alliance for Justice
Alliance for Justice is a national association of over 120 organizations, representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of an equitable, just, and free society. Since 1979, AFJ has been the leader in advocating for a fair and independent justice system, preserving access to the courts, and empowering others to stand up and fight for their causes. Learn more at https://www.afj.org/
About the Women’s National Law Center
The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice — in the courts, in public policy, and in our society — working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us — especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For more than 45 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women.
About the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF)
Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF.
About MALDEF
Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the “law firm of the Latino community,” MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.
About Protect Our Care
Protect Our Care is leading the fight to protect and strengthen health care for millions of Americans and to stop the relentless Republican war on the Affordable Care Act and America’s health care system. We are the outreach, rapid response, research and messaging center in the fight to protect health care, and we work closely with our partners in the progressive community to ensure access to affordable, quality health care is protected for all in this country. The fight to protect health care has never been more important. Protect Our Care is working every day to engage the American people in this effort — and with your help, we will win this fight. For more information on Protect Our Care, visit www.protectourcare.org.
About Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work, and in every community.