Edited from an e-mail I got from People for the American Way.
It's time to defeat another ideological extremist a.s.a.p.
Bush nominee Leslie Southwick has a very poor track record on Civil Rights. Ditto on workers' rights.
Call now and urge your senator to vote NO on Southwick.
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Further contact info is at the bottom of the diary.
Bush has nominated former Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Leslie Southwick to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on his nomination.
All Democratic Senators must stand together to oppose Southwick.
Details below the fold. . . . .
BACKGROUND on Southwick's track record:
Two cases in particular underscore our concerns about civil rights:
In 1998, while on the Mississippi Court of Appeals, Southwick joined a ruling in an employment case that upheld the reinstatement, without any punishment whatsoever, of a white state employee who was fired for calling an African American co-worker a "good ole nigger." The court's decision effectively ratified a hearing officer's opinion that the slur was only "somewhat derogatory" and "was in effect calling the individual a 'teacher's pet.'" The Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously reversed the decision.
In 2001, Southwick joined a ruling that upheld a chancellor's decision to take an eight-year-old girl away from her mother and award custody to the father, who had never married the mother, largely because the mother was living with another woman in a "lesbian home." Southwick went even further by joining a gratuitously anti-gay concurrence which extolled Mississippi's right under "the principles of Federalism" to treat "homosexual persons" as second-class citizens. The concurrence suggested that sexual orientation is a choice and stated that an adult is not "relieved of the consequences of his or her choice" -- e.g., losing custody of one's child.
Clearly, Southwick's nomination should not be allowed to move forward. Please do your part by putting pressure on your senator to vote NO on Southwick. Call now!
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
After you call, you can let us know how it went with our online call report form at http://pfaw.kintera.org/...
http://www.pfaw.org/...
P.S. For more information on Leslie Southwick, please see the letter of opposition PFAW sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee [warning: pdf]:
http://media.pfaw.org/...
-------------ACTION: Contact your Senators:
Vote NO on Leslie Southwick for US Court of Appeals.
Please find someone with more commitment to Civil Rights and workers' rights. No more extremist ideologues.
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/...
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Democratic Phone: (202) 224-7703
Democratic Fax: (202) 224-9516
Republican Phone: (202) 224-5225
Republican Fax: (202) 224-9102
E-mail and fax list can be found at:
SENATE. COMPLETE LIST SORTED BY STATE:
http://www.senate.gov/...