LCCR Statement Opposing Shedd Nomination
Speech by Wade Henderson, 10/1/02
Good Morning. I am Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights - a coalition of over 180 national organizations dedicated to the protection and advancement of civil rights and liberties. I am here today, along with many of my colleagues from the civil rights and civil liberties community, to express our profound concern about President Bush's attempts to pack the federal judiciary with individuals whose views are far outside the mainstream of America.
The composition of the federal judiciary is a civil rights issue of profound importance to all Americans because the individuals charged with dispensing justice in our society have a direct impact on civil rights protections for all.
Many in the press and in the Senate would have you believe that we in the civil rights community are opposed to Bush's nominees because they are conservative. In truth, many if not all of President Bush's nominations to the federal bench have been conservative, and we have opposed very few of the 127 people who have been nominated to the federal bench over the past 19 months. What we have opposed - and what we will continue to oppose -- is the packing of the federal courts with extreme right wing ideologues who have demonstrated that they will use their own ideology--and not legal precedent--to decide cases, particularly on issues important to women, racial and religious minorities, and consumers.
This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Dennis Shedd to the 4th Circuit. For the reasons that will be set out in more detail by my colleagues here today, we strongly urge the Senate to oppose Dennis Shedd's confirmation to this very important court. The 4th Circuit plays a critical role in protecting the rights of the powerless, given that this circuit has the highest percentage of African-Americans of any federal circuit in the nation.
In Dennis Shedd's eleven years on the federal district court in South Carolina, he has demonstrated a hostility toward plaintiffs in civil rights cases, including minorities, women and persons with disabilities, a desire to limit Congress's authority to enact proactive legislation that is applicable to the states, and insensitivity to issues of race. Judge Shedd's views on these issues renders him a poor choice for the Fourth Circuit.
Opposition to Dennis Shedd's nomination has been growing throughout the 4th Circuit. Beginning last week, groups from every state within the circuit have been holding press conferences in opposition to Shedd's confirmation. With these events, civil rights, labor, disability and women's groups in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and West Virginia are sending the Senate Judiciary Committee a strong message to oppose this nomination.
We know that the communities that we represent and the American people want moderate federal judges who will fairly interpret the law based on judicial precedent and common sense --not activist judges who will decide cases based on their personal ideological goals to seriously harm civil rights protections for all Americans. The country and the 4th Circuit deserve better than Dennis Shedd.
Thank you.
