Read a PDF of our statement here.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to advance the nomination of Kenneth Lee to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Lisa Cylar Barrett, Policy Director at LDF, issued the following statement:

“Just a day after Senate Republicans decimated their constitutional obligation to ‘advise and consent’ on district court nominees, the Senate Judiciary Committee took steps to further undermine the integrity of our courts by advancing Kenneth Lee’s nomination for the Ninth Circuit. Lee’s record and omission of damning college writing should alarm us all. While in college in 1993, he advanced the preposterous idea that, ‘economic factors have virtually eliminated rampant racism.’ Since then, Lee has criticized the restoration of voting rights for people who were formerly incarcerated and encouraged the Supreme Court to invalidate affirmative action. These positions make clear that Lee espouses views antithetical to civil rights and the rule of law, and LDF strongly urges lawmakers to vote against his nomination when it comes before the full Senate.”

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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.

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