Confirm Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit
Advocacy Letter - 12/05/11
Source: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Recipient: U.S. Senate
Dear Senator:
On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, we write to express our strong support for the confirmation of Caitlin Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Throughout her career, Ms. Halligan has distinguished herself through her exceptional abilities and her respect for the rule of law, and she will be an impartial, thoughtful, and highly-respected addition to the court. We urge the Senate to vote “yes” on cloture and “yes” on her confirmation.
Ms. Halligan’s credentials are truly outstanding. She graduated with honors from Princeton University and Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as managing editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. After law school, she clerked for Judge Patricia M. Wald on the D.C. Circuit, and Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court. In 1999, she left private practice to join the Office of the New York State Attorney General, where she served as Chief of the Internet Bureau. In 2001, she became First Deputy Solicitor General of New York, and later that year was appointed Solicitor General. During that time, she managed a staff of 45 appellate attorneys representing New York in federal and state appellate courts. In 2007, she returned to the private sector, heading the appellate practice at Weil, Gotshal and Manges, LLP, in New York. In 2010, she returned to public service in her current role, as General Counsel for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. In addition, Ms. Halligan has served as adjunct faculty at Columbia Law School, and as pro bono counsel to the Board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
It is no wonder that her nomination has garnered strong support, from across the political and philosophical spectrum, from those who know her best. In each stage of her career, Ms. Halligan has excelled, and she has accumulated a broad range of legal experience and expertise in the process. She has been counsel of record in over 50 cases before the Supreme Court, and presented oral arguments in five of them. For five consecutive years, she received the “best brief” award from the National Association of Attorneys General. She has the enthusiastic support of a bipartisan group of appellate lawyers, former judges, law enforcement officials, and over twenty former Supreme Court clerks, whose letter of support cited her "brilliant legal mind, her collegiality and fair-mindedness, and her abiding respect for the rule of law." She also has been endorsed by numerous organizations, including the National Conference of Women's Bar Associations, the National District Attorneys Association, the New York Association of Chiefs of Police, and the New York State Sheriffs Association.
We urge you to reject the effort by a small number of ideological extremists to tarnish Ms. Halligan’s reputation based on outlandish inferences drawn from her work while serving as Solicitor General. Her record exhibits a profound respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. Attacking a lawyer for zealously representing the position of her client is beyond the pale, as it is what every lawyer is required to do under ethical guidelines. In this context, such an attack also sets a very unfortunate precedent that, if allowed to prevail, will have lasting repercussions for the judicial confirmation process.
Again, we hope you will support cloture on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan, and move to confirm her. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Senior Counsel Rob Randhava at (202) 466-6058.
Sincerely,
Wade Henderson
President & CEO
Nancy Zirkin
Executive Vice President
