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Action Needed:
- Send a strong message to your Senators that they must responsibly exercise their advise and consent duties and refuse to confirm Miguel Estrada to the D.C. Court of Appeals because of his disturbing record on civil rights and his refusal to fully answer all questions posed to him by the Judiciary Committee. Urge your Senators to use any means necessary, including a filibuster strategy, to defeat the nomination of Miguel Estrada. After sending your message, please forward this alert to colleagues and friends and encourage them to take action as well.
- Send a message to George W. Bush that the packing of federal courts by right-wing ideologues must cease and that you expect him to submit only the judicial nominations of those who demonstrate a commitment to the preservation of individual and constitutional rights.
Update:
Yesterday the Judiciary Committee, ignoring its responsibility to thoroughly examine the record of a nominee for a lifetime appointment for the federal bench, on a straight party-line vote, moved to approve the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the D.C. Court of Appeals and send the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. During his confirmation hearing, Estrada refused to fully answer crucial questions regarding his commitment to constitutional rights. He was described by his former supervisor in the Solicitor General's office as "lack(ing) the judgment" and "too much of an ideologue to be an appeals court judge." The D.C. Circuit, one of the most influential in the country, is at the moment precariously balanced between Republican- and Democrat-appointed judges.
Background:
Since the election, the Bush administration has accelerated its drive to nominate right-wing ideologues to all levels of the federal judiciary. The administration is working in lock-step with the Republican-controlled Senate to quickly ram through a parade of jurists whose reputations for hostility to women's and civil rights is unparalleled. If not stopped, all federal circuits could be controlled by Republican-appointed judges. With no ideological balance among the circuits, and consequently no conflict among them, our rights could be systematically dismantled.
Miguel Estrada was nominated to the D.C. Court of Appeals, one of the few circuits that is still ideologically balanced, and which is recognized as the second most important federal court in the country because it has jurisdiction over the work of all of the federal agencies. Not only the residents of the District of Columbia (who have no Senator) need to fear the impact of a right- wing controlled D.C. Circuit.
During his confirmation hearing, Estrada, a Federalist Society member, in a move strikingly reminiscent of Clarence Thomas's behavior, refused to reveal his position on the correctness of Roe v. Wade and Romer v. Evans, the case that struck down Colorado's anti-gay rights measure. He declined to answer and was evasive when asked crucial questions about environmental and worker rights. His troublesome record entering the hearing included having defended anti- loitering laws which have been shown to have a disproportionately negative effect on minorities. His supervisor in the Solicitor General's office has said that Estrada "lacks the judgment" and is "too much of an ideologue to be an appeals court judge." With such troubling questions in his record, and significant concerns expressed by his former supervisor, we would think that he would welcome the opportunity of a hearing to fully explain his views.
Estrada has been opposed by the National Organization for Women and many other organizations, including the Feminist Majority, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, People for the American Way, the AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Earthjustice, the National Women's Law Center, the NAACP, the Sierra Club and AAUW.
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