Cloture of Owen Filibuster

Recipient: Senate

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, we would like to thank you for voting “no” on cloture and stopping the confirmation of Priscilla Owen to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. LCCR values your vote against a judge whose record reveals her to be an extremely conservative judicial activist, with a lack of commitment to civil rights, women’s rights, consumers’ rights, and workers’ rights.

As you know, the composition of the federal judiciary is of profound civil rights importance to all Americans because the individuals charged with dispensing justice in our society have a direct impact on civil rights protections for all. Given the increasing conservatism and anti-civil rights rulings of the Fifth Circuit Court, it is crucial that any new appointee to this court be a moderating influence who will respect the rule of law and judicial precedent.

Again, thank you very much for supporting a federal judiciary that will protect the constitutional and civil rights of all Americans. LCCR looks forward to working with you in the future on other priority issues. Please contact Nancy Zirkin, LCCR Deputy Director, at 202/263-2880, or Julie Fernandes, Senior Policy Analyst, at 202-263-2856, if you would like to discuss this or any other issue important to LCCR.

Sincerely,



Dr. Dorothy I. Height
Chairperson


Wade Henderson
Executive Director