NCJW Denounces Senate Vote on Southwick Nomination

October 24, 2007, Washington, DC -- The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) today denounced the vote by the US Senate to end debate on the nomination of Leslie H. Southwick -- a vote that led to his confirmation to the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. NCJW President Phyllis Snyder released the following statement:

"The confirmation of Leslie Southwick to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has the highest minority population of any circuit, is deplorable. This nominee has a record of hostility to the civil rights concerns of African Americans and to the equality of gays and lesbians before the law. If, as reported in the press, his confirmation to a lifetime seat on the court was part of a backroom deal, NCJW considers that a travesty of the constitutional process of advice and consent.

"This is the judge who joined a majority of the Mississippi appeals court in ruling that a state employee's dismissal for referring to a co-worker as 'a good ole n*****' was unwarranted. The ruling was unanimously reversed by the Mississippi Supreme Court. In another case Judge Southwick asserted that a 'homosexual lifestyle' could be used to deprive a parent of custody of her biological child. These are but two examples of Southwick's consistently troubling record.

"The Senate's failure to defeat this nomination is an abdication of its role in the nomination process. Southwick's views are not simply a matter of judicial philosophy. Rather, his past actions as a judge demonstrate an intolerance that ought not to be permitted on the bench at any level."

NCJW is a volunteer organization, inspired by Jewish values, that works to improve the quality of life for women, children, and families and to ensure individual rights and freedoms for all through its network of 90,000 members and supporters nationwide. It has launched BenchMark: NCJW's Campaign to Save Roe, a national effort to educate and mobilize NCJW members, the Jewish community, and friends and allies everywhere to promote a federal bench with judges that support fundamental freedoms, including a woman's right to choose.

Contact:
Emily Alfano
202 296 2588 x5; emily@ncjwdc.org