Senate Considers Another Unqualified Judicial Nominee Weeks Before Election

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 30, 2020 – With the election just weeks away, the Supreme Court vacancy isn’t the only federal judgeship Senate Republicans are rushing to fill with someone loyal to the president’s radical agenda — and focused on eroding access to health care.

Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, Trump’s recent nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, epitomizes his record of selecting judges who are not qualified for the job and appear only to be selected for their extreme conservative beliefs.

Alliance for Justice released a detailed background report on Mizelle’s record demonstrating that she lacks the basic experience to assume a lifetime appointment as a federal judge and the American Bar Association accordingly found her “Not Qualified” to be a federal judge.

It is telling that the only experience listed on her law firm biography page is a brief filed on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce opposing a request by the AFL-CIO that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establish emergency safety procedures for workers during the pandemic. Mizelle assisted with the brief arguing that OSHA’s existing standards were enough to protect workers from the highly contagious virus.

Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron released the following statement:

“This president doesn’t care if his judges are qualified; he only cares if they’ll toe the line for his ultraconservative agenda. Mizelle simply does not have the basic experience required to run a courtroom. Her nomination reeks of a desperate attempt by Senate Republicans to fill more vacancies before the election, as we know they are doing with the Supreme Court.

This is just the latest example of Senate Republicans pushing through a judge that will erode civil rights and norms, just as they are doing with Amy Coney Barrett.

It is abhorrent that, amidst a worldwide pandemic with 200,000 Americans dead and millions more now saddled with lifelong health conditions, the president and Senate Republican’s agenda consists solely of ramming through more anti-health care judges.”

Click here to read Alliance for Justice’s full — if notably short — report on Mizelle’s record.