Trump and McConnell Stack the Courts, Setting Us Back Decades

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’s vote to advance the nomination of Thomas Kirsch to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit: 

“Yet again, instead of prioritizing pandemic relief, Trump and McConnell are stacking the courts. In doing so, they are breaking a 123-year tradition of not advancing nominees after the election of the president of another party. It is especially egregious that this is another White man nominated to an already all-White circuit court. Myra Selby, an eminently qualified Black woman nominated to this seat by President Obama, should be sitting on this court. Instead, McConnell refused to consider her nomination and then quickly confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to this seat before speeding her onto the Supreme Court. Our judges should reflect and represent the diversity of this nation, and this administration has taken us back decades.

“Senators should reject Kirsch’s nomination and instead focus on delivering urgent COVID-19 relief to all.”

Read The Leadership Conference’s letter urging the Senate to pause the judicial nominations process, as well as a blog post discussing our opposition to the Kirsch nomination, the history of the seat to which Kirsch is nominated, and judicial diversity.

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.