NAACP Strongly Opposes Nomination of Right-Wing Extremist Janice Rogers Brown to U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit

June 3, 2005
............................

Hilary O. Shelton, Director, Washington Bureau
1156 15th Street, Suite 915, Washington, DC 20005
http://www.naacp.org/

The Issue

On February 14, 2005, President Bush re-nominated Janice Rogers Brown, who currently serves on the California Supreme Court, to serve a lifetime appointment on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after she was rejected in the 108th Congress. On April 21, 2005, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 to send Justice Brown to the full Senate floor for confirmation. Unfortunately, and despite the NAACP's continuing opposition, her confirmation was included as part of the "deal" between 14 members of the two parties to preserve the filibuster and avoid the "nuclear option."

The NAACP strongly opposes this nomination, as Judge Brown has, throughout her career, been extremely hostile towards laws that protect the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. Furthermore, she has consistently shown a real inability to separate her personal beliefs from her judicial activism.

The DC Circuit is the second most powerful court in the country; it oversees the actions of federal agencies as well as often being the last hope for DC residents (60% of whom are African American). The Supreme Court's limited caseload means that the DC Circuit often provides the final say on federal agency actions involving voting rights, affirmative action, labor relations employment discrimination and health & safety regulations. Janice Rogers Brown has no connection whatsoever to D.C., she is not a member of the DC bar and she has little to no experience with federal litigation.

Janice Rogers Brown was rated "not qualified" by the California State Bar Judicial Nominees Evaluation Committee. This rating was based in part on her tendency to inject her "personal and philosophical" views into her judicial opinions and her "insensitivity to established precedent." So far in her career, Judge Brown has issued many opinions hostile to civil rights. These include:

• the principle opinion enforcing California's Proposition 209, which outlawed Affirmative Action in education, and she even went so far as to expand it so that it also covered outreach efforts for minority and female- owned municipal subcontractors;
• opposition to a ruling that an injunction against the use of racially offensive epithets in the workplace did not violate the First Amendment; and
• opposition to a ruling that California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission had the authority to award emotional distress damages to victims of discrimination.

Her extreme right-wing views, and her willingness to interject them in her decisions and her decision-making process, regardless of judicial precedent, would clearly interfere with the pursuit and administration of justice.

Not time to write a letter. Call, fax or email today!

The action we need you to take: Contact both your Senators and URGE THEM TO REJECT THE NOMINATION OF JANICE ROGERS BROWN TO THE US COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DC CIRCUIT. To contact your Senators you may:

• Make a Phone Call: Call your Senators in Washington by dialing the Capitol Switchboard and asking to be transferred to your Senators' offices. The switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121 (see message section, below).
• Send a Fax: If you would like to send a fax, call your Senators' offices (through the Capitol switchboard) and ask for their fax numbers (you can use either the attached sample letter or the message box, below).
• Send an E-Mail: To send an e-mail to your Senators, simply go to www.senate.gov, and click on "Contacting the Senate"; you can look your Senators up either alphabetically or by state. Unfortunately, not all Members of Congress have e-mail addresses.

REMEMBER TO CONTACT BOTH YOUR SENATORS!!!!!

The Message

> Janice Rogers Brown has, though her numerous rulings from the California State Supreme Court bench, shown herself to be extremely hostile to laws intended to protect Americans' civil rights and civil liberties. She has shown a genuine hostility towards such civil rights staples as affirmative action, basic civil rights protections, and public education.

> 20 out of 23 of Janice Rogers Brown's own peers within the California State Bar Association found her to be unqualified to serve on the California State Court of Appeals due to her tendency to interject her personal and philosophical views into her judicial opinions.

> Janice Rogers Brown is not qualified to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit; she has little, if any, experience with federal legislation, she is not a member of the District of Columbia bar and she has never lived in the DC area.

> Her extreme right-wing views, and her willingness to interject them in her decisions and her decision-making process, regardless of judicial precedent, would clearly interfere with the pursuit and administration of justice.

Sample Letter

(date)
	
The Honorable ___________________________
United States Senate
Washington, D.C.  20510
	
RE:   OPPOSE TE NOMINATION OF JANICE ROGERS BROWN TO SERVE
      ON THE US COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DC CIRCUIT
				
Dear Senator  _______________________________;
	
I write to encourage you to oppose the nomination of Judge Janice Rogers Brown 
to the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit.  Janice Rogers Brown is not 
qualified to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit; she has little, 
if any, experience with federal litigation, she is not a member of the District 
of Columbia bar and she has never lived in the DC area.
	
Furthermore, 20 out of 23 of Janice Rogers Brown's own peers found her to be 
unqualified to serve on the California State Court of Appeals due to her 
tendency to interject her personal and philosophical views into her judicial 
opinions. Judge Brown has, through her numerous rulings from the California 
State Supreme Court bench, shown herself to be extremely hostile to laws 
intended to protect Americans' civil rights, employment rights and civil 
liberties. In fact, during her tenure on the California Supreme Court bench 
she has shown a genuine hostility towards such civil rights staples as 
affirmative action, basic civil rights protections, and public education. 
During her tenure on the bench, she wrote the principle opinion enforcing and 
even expanding California's Proposition 209, which outlawed Affirmative Action 
in education, so that it also covered outreach efforts for minority and 
female-owned municipal subcontractors; she opposed a ruling that an injunction 
against racial epithets did not violate the First Amendment; and she opposed a 
ruling that California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission had the 
authority to award emotional distress damages to victims of discrimination.

Judge Brown is clearly unqualified to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the 
DC Circuit. Her extreme right wing views, and her apparent willingness to 
interject them in her decisions and her decision making process, would clearly 
do a disservice to the pursuit of justice. I thus urge you again, in the 
strongest terms possible, to oppose this nomination through whatever means 
necessary and to work hard to ensure that Janice Rogers Brown is not confirmed.
	
Thank you for your attention to this letter; I hope that you will contact me 
soon to let me know what you are doing on this matter and what I can possibly 
do to help ensure that Janice Rogers Brown is not confirmed.
	
Sincerely,
	
Sign and print your name and remember to include your address)
	

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT MATTER!!!
If you have any questions, call Hilary Shelton at the Washington Bureau at (202) 463-2940.

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For more information, call your local NAACP branch or visit http://www.naacp.org/

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St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN