Dear People For Supporter,
It's not the kind of work that makes the nightly news, but since President Biden has taken office, we’ve made AMAZING progress in our push to rebalance the American judiciary after the extreme rightward swing of the Trump years – and that includes major strides in adding to racial, ethnic, gender, and professional diversity on the federal bench.
With nearly 90 Federal judges nominated so far to circuit and district courts (and 58 of them confirmed to the bench – the fastest pace of any president in more than a half century), 76 percent of the President’s picks for judges have been women, 30 percent have been Black, 17 percent have been Hispanic, and 20 percent have been Asian American. In terms of personal background, many of them have been public defenders and civil rights lawyers.
People For, with the help and activism of our members, has been an important part of undoing the harm of the Trump-McConnell assault on our courts and shifting the federal judiciary to a place where it looks a lot more like America. Continuing our long history of leadership on courts-related issues, we’ve weighed in with action alerts, call campaigns, and other types of grassroots pressure, as well as expert analysis and media support, to help get these nominees confirmed.
But, ALL of this progress will come to a crashing halt if the Far Right is able to seize control of the Senate in this fall’s elections.
It’s now clear that – with neo-fascism on the rise, and the extreme Far Right now completely dominating conservative politics – traditional notions of bipartisan deference to qualified nominees from a president of the other party seem to be long gone.
Despite her obvious qualifications and previous bipartisan confirmation votes, Senator Lindsey Graham openly admitted that Ketanji Brown Jackson never would even have gotten a HEARING from – let alone been confirmed under – a Senate with him in the majority party.[1]
And just last week, telegraphing a repeat of his abominable and unprecedented delays when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, Senator Mitch McConnell pointedly refused to commit to even holding hearings (!) if he’s Senate Majority leader next year and another Supreme Court vacancy opens up.[2]
Here’s where you come in. We have the issue expertise when it comes to our courts, a big grassroots network to mobilize, and – based on decades of expertise -- we know how to fight these fights. But as a grassroots-funded organization, we count on donations from supporters like you to make all of our work possible.
As always, we thank you for your activism and your support, and are glad to have you fighting with us shoulder to shoulder.
Take care,
Ben Jealous, President
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Sources:
1. "Lindsey Graham says Republicans wouldn't have given Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson a hearing if they controlled the Senate," Business Insider, 4/4/22
2. "Mitch McConnell won’t say if SCOTUS hearings would happen if GOP wins at midterms," New York Post, 4/8/22
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Do not reply directly to this e-mail. Please use [email protected]. Trouble viewing the email? THANK YOU for your support of People For the American Way! This email was sent to [email protected]. Reaching you over email is the best way we have to let you know about the ways you can take action to fight the Right Wing and defend our constitutional rights and values. If you have any thoughts, comments, or criticisms, or if there's a better email address at which to reach you, please let us know>> If you'd like to unsubscribe from our list, you can do that here>> Radical Right extremists are trying to turn back the clock on a century of advances in civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, the social safety net and more… they’re waging an all-out assault on the fundamental pillars of our country – democracy, checks and balances, a fair and independent judicial branch, and core values like fairness, equality, and justice for all. People For is fighting back every day with: ✔ Grassroots organizing But we can’t do this vital work without the robust grassroots financial support of our members and activists.
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