Congressional Black Caucus
"The Conscience of Congress since 1969"
www.congressionalblackcaucus.net

(Washington, D.C.)- U.S. Rep. Melvin L. Watt (D-NC), Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), released the following statement on behalf of the CBC regarding the judicial nominations of Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor: 

"As the Senate vote on California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown and former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor approaches, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) reminds the Senators that both nominees are wholly unacceptable because of their records on racial and ethnic discrimination, and on the federal laws and federal court rulings that have been responsible for the progress of Blacks and Hispanics in our country. The CBC and other people of color would expect that any fair minded Senator would vote against these two and send a message that extremists are unacceptable on the federal judiciary.

"The most disappointing thing about the filibuster Memorandum of Understanding signed by the seven Democrats and seven Republicans was that it allowed the worst of the previously filibustered nominees to avoid filibuster. The CBC will, therefore, send letters to each U.S. Senator reminding them that each of these two nominees has gone out of their way to reach for discrimination issues to separate themselves from their professional peers and from mainstream American opinion. Thus, we expect Senators to separate themselves from these nominees.

"Both in her court decisions and in her many writings, Ms. Brown rejects the civil rights remedies Congress has enacted and that the courts have approved as ‘entitlement[s] based on group representation’ and believes that parts of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act are unconstitutional. Her undisguised hostility to other long settled civil rights law as well as to administrative law makes her particularly unsuitable for the D.C. Circuit, which has exclusive or influential jurisdiction over many administrative agency matters critical to the advancement of Blacks and Hispanics. A nominee who believes that the New Deal would ‘cut away the very ground on which the Constitution rests’ has no place on the federal bench, particularly the D.C. Circuit.

"Ironically, the renomination of William Pryor, who has been the country's leading opponent of the Voting Rights Act, comes as African Americans and Hispanics are seeking the reauthorization of this historic legislation. Mr. Pryor has criticized the ‘use of the judiciary’ to enforce the Act. His view that ‘section 5 of the Voting Rights Act .. is an affront to federalism’ is an affront to African Americans and Hispanics and should be an affront to members of the U.S. Senate. Mr. Pryor would minimize some of the most important constitutional rights for which we have fought as ‘social disputes’ that should be left to the states. His disdain for voting rights legislation is part of his expressed contempt for the role of federal law in our society today as embodied in the New Deal and the Great Society.

"The CBC will be actively involved in the defeat of these nominees this week and will be keeping close track of the votes of Senators on Ms. Brown and Mr. Pryor. The true test of the good will of those Senators who signed the filibuster agreement, and those who did not, is whether they now will confirm these judges in an up or down vote."
  

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