Barbara Lee Speaks Out Against the Nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) spoke out against the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals at a press conference today on Capitol Hill in response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to approve the nomination:
“As a Californian and as a person of color, I am doubly disappointed that a Senator from my home state, Senator Feinstein, would vote with the Republicans to bring the Southwick nomination to the Senate floor.
“Numerous concerns have been raised about Judge Southwick’s commitment to equal justice.
“I have profound concerns about the commitment to equal justice and dignity of anyone who thinks that it is EVER acceptable for someone to refer to someone else using the ‘n-word.’
“The idea of elevating such a person to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is, quite frankly, unacceptable.
“Given the diversity of the region that the Fifth Circuit represents, given the fact that ALL of the nominees over the last 22 years have been white, given the fact that there is only one black member of the court and he is only the second since the court was created in 1869 – given all of these facts, I believe that it is doubly unacceptable to elevate such a person to this court.”
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