Judicial Nominations “Spinning Out of Control”

Washington, D.C., December 7, 2017 – Following the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote today to advance the nominations of ten federal judicial nominees, including several very controversial candidates, AFJ President Nan Aron released the following statement:

“Today gave us more proof that the judicial nominations process is spinning out of control under the Trump Administration. The Senate Judiciary Committee just rammed through a total of ten more federal court nominees, including at least four whose views are frankly toxic. The Committee voted along party lines to advance the nomination of Steve Grasz, who was rated Not Qualified by the ABA; Don Willett, an extremist who has denigrated the rights of women and LGBTQ people; Mark Norris, who has spread offensive anti-refugee and anti-Muslim rhetoric and tried to make it harder for African-Americans to vote; and James Ho, whose legal writings laid the foundation for the abhorrent ‘torture memo’ promulgated under George W. Bush. It is disgraceful that in their stampede to rush through as many judicial nominees as possible, Republican partisans on the Judiciary Committee continue to trample basic standards for nominees, longstanding Senate practice, and their own Democratic colleagues. Committee Democrats with the courage of their convictions have continued to point out the egregious lack of fitness of many nominees as well as the abuse of the nomination process, and we applaud them for doing so again today.”