Henderson: Don’t Compromise Integrity of Our System of Checks & Balances or Our Federal Courts

Washington – Amid a flurry of reports that a deal is being struck to stop Republican leaders from triggering the nuclear option and thereby destabilizing our system of checks and balances, and in light of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, released the following statement:

“First, we vehemently oppose the nuclear option. Our leaders must not compromise the integrity of our federal courts or our system of checks and balances.

Second, we oppose the nominations of unqualified out-of-the-mainstream judges who do not deserve a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. Over 200 of the President’s judicial nominees have already been confirmed with bipartisan support. The handful that have been opposed, are opposed because they are unfit.

Public opinion is behind us. National polls show that two-thirds of Americans, including a large number of Republicans and Independents, are opposed to Senator Frist’s effort to break the Senate’s rules.

There must be no compromise on 200 years of Senate precedent and the establishment of rules designed to protect the rights of the minority.”