[Peace-discuss] Fw: Tell Sen. Leahy: We need judges who will protect our civil rights

Fri Mar 21 16:00:30 UTC 2014

Unbelievable. Pls sign and forward widely. Hopefully ColorOfChange will get results on this one -- it has a good record so far, and this one's a no-brainer.
 --Jenifer


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Arisha Michelle Hatch, ColorOfChange.org" <info at colorofchange.org>
To: Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 10:11 AM
Subject: Tell Sen. Leahy: We need judges who will protect our civil rights
 

 President Obama just nominated Atlanta federal prosecutor Leslie Abrams to a U.S. District Court vacancy in Georgia.
Sen. Leahy's refusal to abandon the "blue slip" tradition is causing headaches for Black judicial nominees. 
Tell him to stop allowing the GOP to block Black women from the federal bench.  
Dear Jenifer,
President Obama just nominated Atlanta federal prosecutor Leslie Abrams to a U.S. District Court vacancy in Georgia. Though nearly one-third of the state identifies as Black, Abrams would become the first Black woman to ever serve on Georgia’s federal bench if confirmed.
The open secret is that Abrams’ nomination will go nowhere — just like those of her colleagues Natasha Perdew Silas, Linda Walker, and Eleanor Ross before her1 — unless we do something about it. We're calling on Senate Judiciary chair Patrick Leahy to drop his committee's outmoded, increasingly-abused “blue slips” tradition, which allows just one senator to effectively veto the president’s judicial picks without cause.
Georgia’s right-wing obstructionist senators have been withholding their “blue slips” — or personal pre-approval of Obama nominees — for three years now.2 As long as Sen. Leahy lets them, these good ol’ boys will keep blocking highly-qualified Black women attorneys and sitting judges from ever seeing a Senate vote on their nominations, potentially locking in the unacceptable inequities in representation on Georgia’s federal bench for decades to come.
As Judiciary Committee chair, Sen. Leahy could unilaterally end reliance on blue slips today. Can you call on Sen. Leahy to ensure President Obama’s judicial nominees receive the full vote they’re constitutionally entitled to?
Federal judges rule on some of the most crucial civil rights issues impacting our communities, including Stop and Frisk,3 so-called “Stand Your Ground” or “Shoot First” laws,4 and selective voter ID. Georgia in particular has been bombarded with attacks on voting rights since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to gut the federal Voting Rights Act last year; the state has since seen aggressive elimination of polling places, adoption of discriminatory redistricting plans, and even a proposal to move Augusta’s elections from November to the summertime when it is believed Black voter turnout will be lower.5
We need judges committed to civil rights and ensuring equal justice for all, but instead we have more than ten percent of federal judgeships sitting vacant — with long-standing vacancies concentrated in those states with at least one Republican senator who refuses to blue slip any Obama nominee.6 Worse, blue slipping under Sen. Leahy has forced the president’s hand into unnecessary, unreciprocated, and lopsided backroom “package” deals that ultimately give individual, hostage-taking senators more power to make judicial appointments than the White House itself.7
The most egregious of these current deals would serve as yet another assault on Black Georgians. Sen. Saxby Chambliss could successfully push through three of his own hand-picked candidates in exchange for agreeing to stop his marathon obstruction of just one White House nominee, in limbo since January 2012.8 The president is now in the position of having to seriously consider lifetime appointments to the federal bench for people like Michael Boggs, who as a Georgia legislator voted to preserve the Confederate Battle Emblem as part of the state’s flag, and Mark Cohen, best-known for his work to uphold Georgia’s discriminatory voter ID law.
Tell Sen. Leahy: It’s past time to drop the indefensible blue slips policy and ensure judges qualified to protect our civil rights have a fair shot at a full Senate vote. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.
Thanks and Peace,
--Rashad, Arisha, Matt, Dallas, Kim, Johnny, and the rest of the ColorOfChange team
   March 19th, 2014
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References
1. “Obama nominates Leslie Abrams – Stacey’s sister – for federal judgeship,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 03-11-2014
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3377?t=7&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f
2. “Johnny Isakson, Saxby Chambliss send judicial signals to White House,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 01-24-2012
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3378?t=9&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f
3. "Federal appeals court upholds rulings that stop-and-frisk is unconstitutional," Guardian, 11-22-2013
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3332?t=11&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f
4. "Federal suit challenges Georgia ‘stand your ground law,’" Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11-01-2013
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3333?t=13&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f
5. "Voting Rights at Risk in Georgia," Rolling Stone, 11-04-2013
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3334?t=15&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f
6. "Blue-Slip Battle: The Senate Obstructionists’ Secret Weapon," New Yorker, 11-26-2013
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3329?t=17&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f
7. “Stop the Democrats’ surrender to a blue slip,” Washington Post, 02-25-2014
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3379?t=19&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f
8. "Civil rights leaders call for Obama to withdraw Georgia judicial nominees," The Hill, 12-23-2013
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3326?t=21&akid=3337.394109.OgsD4f  

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