Read a PDF of our statement here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to advance the nomination of William Barr to serve as Attorney General of the United States. In addition to Mr. Barr, the Committee also voted to advance dozens of judicial nominees, including Chad Readler, Eric Murphy, and Wendy Vitter, all of whom the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) has opposed. Todd A. Cox, Policy Director at LDF, issued the following statement:

“The Senate Judiciary Committee may have new leadership, but the reckless strategy of railroading key executive and judicial branch nominees with anti-civil rights records persists. Few positions in federal government are more integral to safeguarding civil rights and the rule of law than the Attorney General of the United States. Sadly, William Barr’s record leads us to believe that he has no interest in protecting either, and instead will continue Jeff Sessions’ relentless assault on equal justice under the law. From Mr. Barr’s experience as an architect of the ‘tough on crime’ approach that fostered mass incarceration and overwhelming racial disparities in the criminal justice system, to his boundless interpretation of executive power, it’s clear that his confirmation would put the rights of all Americans – but principally the most vulnerable among us – at risk.

“Judicial nominees like Chad Readler, Eric Murphy, and Wendy Vitter are cut from a similar anti-civil rights cloth. Each threatens to erode critical protections, from voting  rights and education equity to the rule of law. The Senate must finally stand up for the rights of the American people and the integrity of our nation’s courts by voting “no” when these nominations are brought before the full Senate.”

Read LDF’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing Mr. Barr’s nomination here.

Read LDF’s overview of Mr. Barr’s record here.

Read Todd Cox’s op-ed discussing the nomination of Chad Readler and Eric Murphy here.

Read Todd Cox’s op-ed on the nomination of Wendy Vitter here.

Read LDF’s statement on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s previous vote to advance Mrs. Vitter’s nomination here.

# # #

Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF.

Shares