Senate Committee Votes to Support Divisive Judicial Nominee
Feature Story by Lindsey Catlett - 8/3/2007
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-9 today to move Judge Leslie H. Southwick out of committee for a Senate floor vote. Southwick, a controversial Mississippi state court judge, was nominated by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and other civil and human rights organizations have expressed serious concerns about the Committee's decision, saying that Southwick's record calls into question his commitment to equal justice and his willingness to protect the rights of workers, minorities, gays and lesbians and consumers.
"The committee's favorable vote for Leslie Southwick's confirmation is a slap in the face to African Americans and all people of good will. It belies the committee's commitment to equal justice under the law and makes a mockery of the judicial confirmation process," said LCCR president and CEO Wade Henderson.
Civil rights groups cite a number of cases that they say make Southwick a troubling nominee.
In Richmond v. Mississippi Dept. of Human Services, Southwick joined the 5-4 majority that upheld the reinstatement of a white social worker who was fired for calling a black employee a "good ole n****."
The four dissenting judges in Richmond recognized this as threat to civil rights: "The word "n****" is, and has always been, offensive. […] There are some words, which by their nature and definition are so inherently offensive, that their use establishes the intent to offend." The dissenting opinion was confirmed when the Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously overturned Richmond.
In another case, S.B. v. L.W., Southwick joined the 5-4 majority that denied a woman custody of her child. The majority considered the sexual orientation of the mother to be a legitimate factor in deciding custody.
However, Judge Southwick went further by joining a concurrence which held that homosexuality is a "choice that bears consequences." As People for the American Way and the Human Rights Campaign stated in a letter of opposition to his nomination, "the concurrence appears to have been written for the sole purpose of underscoring and defending Mississippi's hostility toward gay people and what it calls ‘the practice of homosexuality.'"
Additionally, LCCR, in a letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, noted that Southwick has voted consistently in favor of business interests over the rights of workers and consumers.
The Committee's vote had been continuously delayed at the request of Committee Republicans. Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D. Vt., said Wednesday he scheduled the vote because he has "waited patiently" to hear from Republican senators who repeatedly requested a delay on the final vote.
"Given the tremendous impact that federal judges have on civil rights and liberties, and because of the lifetime nature of federal judgeships, no judge should be confirmed unless he or she demonstrates a solid commitment to protecting the rights of all Americans. Because Judge Southwick has failed to meet this burden, we are extremely concerned that the Committee voted to support his confirmation," said Henderson in a letter of opposition to the Committee.
"We are taking the extraordinary step of calling for a Senate filibuster of this nominee to restore balance and order and to ensure that Leslie Southwick doesn't take a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals," said LCCR vice president and director of policy Nancy Zirkin.
The full Senate will vote on Southwick's nomination in the coming weeks.
