The Leadership Conference Condemns Confirmation of Emil Bove

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick McNeil, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program and an advisor at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the Senate confirmed Emil Bove to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit:

“Our federal courts must serve and work for all of us, and they must be staffed with judges who are fair-minded, ethical, and committed to respecting our rights and upholding the law and Constitution. Emil Bove fails on each of these measures. The Senate’s confirmation of Mr. Bove to the Third Circuit is a disgrace that jeopardizes equal justice in America. His deeply inadequate judicial temperament, his unacceptable record of abusing power, and his disturbing efforts to seek retaliation while at the Justice Department should have been disqualifying. Instead, he was rewarded with a lifetime position on a powerful appellate court. Every senator who voted to confirm Mr. Bove — despite serious, troubling, and increasing whistleblower revelations and so many unanswered questions — has failed their constituents and our country. They have further undermined the independence of the federal judiciary and are complicit in all that Mr. Bove will accomplish on the bench on behalf of the president and his anti-civil and human rights agenda.

“This is not okay. For the future of our courts and our democracy, this cannot be the new normal for the U.S. Senate. We need judges who are fair-minded and ethical, who are qualified to serve in the role, and who will treat all people respectfully and uphold the rights of all of us. We’re grateful to the bipartisan group of senators who showed up for our democracy and opposed this nomination, and we urge all senators to take seriously their obligation to scrutinize the records of judicial nominees. The Senate can and must do better.

“Today’s vote was shameful. History will remember.”

Read The Leadership Conference’s letter in opposition to Emil Bove’s confirmation here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 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.

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