Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing our strong opposition to the confirmation of Andrew Oldham to be U.S. Circuit Court Judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. LDF is calling on Committee members to reject Mr. Oldham’s nomination based on his clear anti-civil rights record, which, like too many of this Administration’s other judicial nominees, demonstrates his hostility to principles of equality but also to well-established judicial norms and standards.
During his career as Texas Deputy Solicitor General, Mr. Oldham has amassed a very troubling civil rights record. While representing Texas in civil rights cases with national impact, Mr. Oldham sought to undermine critical protections. As highlighted in LDF’s letter, he represented Texas in its attempt to block the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s efforts to combat racial discrimination in employment through guidance educating employers on how to consider criminal records properly. He advocated for weakening the Voting Rights Act; he challenged whether housing discrimination cases could be brought under the Fair Housing Act; and, during his confirmation hearing, he refused to say that Brown v. Board of Education was correctly decided.
As LDF’s letter notes: “No litigant with a civil rights claim before Mr. Oldham could trust he would fairly and impartially provide equal justice under the law. With civil rights under attack in this country, the Senate must use its ‘advice and consent’ power to ensure our nation is served by judges who will uphold the rule of law and equal rights for all Americans and reject nominees like Mr. Oldham whose views and careers reflect opposition to these core principles.”
Read LDF’s letter opposing Andrew Oldham here.
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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.
