The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) vehemently opposes the nomination of Emil Bove to the 3rd Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. LDF is the nation’s oldest civil rights law organization. LDF was launched at a time when America’s aspirations for equality and due process of law were stifled by widespread state-sponsored racial inequality and LDF has long used the courts to protect Black people from discrimination and advance racial justice. We rely on courts’ adherence to the rule of law to advance and protect civil and human rights. The integrity and objectivity of the federal judiciary must be uncompromising and its judicial decisions fair and impartial given the serious implications they carry for the rights and freedoms of all Americans.
LDF urges the Senate to listen to the pleas of over 900 former Justice Department attorneys and 75 judges, who served under presidents of both parties, and join them in rejecting Bove’s nomination.
In response to the nomination, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director–Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement:
“Those who openly and contemptuously insult our judicial system should not be rewarded with a lifetime appointment to the bench. Emil Bove’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals is unjust compensation for a willingness to shred the Constitution out of blind loyalty to an egregiously malicious administration.
“Bove’s recent actions at the Justice Department demonstrate that he possesses neither the ethical constitution, discernment nor temperament necessary to serve as a federal judge. Whether we consider the politically-motivated firing of prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases, the decision to force career attorneys to drop the bribery charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for his cooperation with Trump’s immigrant exclusion agenda, or his blatant disregard of court orders in violation of his oath to occupy one of the highest positions in the Justice Department, Bove is perhaps the most unfit nomination for the U.S. Court of Appeals that the Senate has ever considered.
“Many judicial decisions implicate the civil rights and core freedoms of all Americans, impacting various areas of life and should be rendered by judges committed to the rule of law and to upholding the principles of impartiality and objectivity
“LDF asks Congress with the strongest urgency possible to reject the nomination of Emil Bove whose confirmation threatens to irreparably denigrate the federal judiciary.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. 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 Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been 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.
