Benchmarking the Judiciary
Sammie Moshenberg is the Director of Washington Operations for the National Council of Jewish Women. The views expressed are her own.
Last week Mark Pelavin blogged about Toobin’s new book The Nine. Mark reminded us of the importance of paying attention to who is confirmed to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court as well as other federal courts.
That was exactly what motivated the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) to launch its BenchMark campaign back in 2001. Since then we’ve faced two contentious Supreme Court confirmation battles over the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito – both of whom won lifetime seats on the highest court. And the narrowly decided decisions handed down by the Supreme Court with these two new members, notably on reproductive rights, workplace discrimination, and school integration; sadly proved NCJW’s point that the career records of these two nominees could jeopardize key constitutional rights.
But it’s not just the Supreme Court that protects our rights. Most cases don’t reach the high court. They are decided in the circuit courts of appeal around the country that often get the last word on important issues. Anyone who cares about the future of our rights and freedoms needs to pay attention to these courts as well.
Right now, the alarm bells are sounding over the nomination of Leslie Southwick to a lifetime seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Senate may vote on this nomination as early as next week. This circuit includes Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, boasting the largest minority population of any circuit. It’s also a circuit that hears many civil rights cases, so knowing in advance that a nominee has an extreme record on civil rights should raise red flags. Leslie Southwick is just such a nominee. As a judge on the state court in Mississippi where there are few civil rights laws, he’s only had a few cases in that realm but, across the board in those cases, his views stood out as exceptionally extreme. You can read more about Southwick on www.benchmarkcampaign.org and a variety of other civil rights organizations’ websites.
It does indeed matter who sits on the federal bench, and the impact outlives the President who makes the nomination and the senators who vote on confirmation. As far as NCJW is concerned, Leslie Southwick is not someone who should be rewarded with a lifetime seat on such an important appeals court.