Norton Leads CBC Working Group in Asking for Movement on African American Judicial Nominees before August Recess

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Judicial Nominations Working Group, spoke at a CBC press conference today urging the Senate to move African American judicial nominees forward before the August recess. The press conference was called because nearly one-third (10/33) of the judicial nominees pending in the Senate are African Americans. The Judicial Nominations Working Group reflects the high priority the CBC places on a diverse judiciary. Norton said that President Obama has kept pace with and even surpassed past presidents in nominating African American judges. However, she said, "at the present pace of Senate confirmations, we are at risk of losing more African American judges than we gain …The Senate establishes the threshold of fairness by confirming a judiciary that represents the diversity of the citizenry whose cases federal judges are called upon to decide. The Congressional Black Caucus will not quietly allow highly qualified African American judges to be sidelined without hearings or to be held up on the Senate floor after being voted out of the committee."

Norton's full statement follows.

Statement of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton at CBC Press Conference on African American Judicial Nominations, July 17, 2013, in Radio-TV Gallery Studio B

For the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), judicial nominations have always been matters of very special, high priority. It was the federal courts, not Congress, that found racial segregation and discrimination to be unconstitutional, and it is the courts, more than the other branches, that have most often guaranteed the rights of African Americans.

Our CBC Chair, Marcia Fudge, established a working group on judicial nominations and asked me to chair it when it became clear that, while the President has kept pace and often surpassed prior presidents in black judicial appointments, a disproportionate number of African American nominees have been held up or slowed. Almost one-third (10 of the 33) of the judicial nominees currently pending in the Senate are African Americans.

To evaluate the source of the problem, our working group, whose members are Representatives G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), and Alcee Hastings (D- FL), met with White House counsel as well as judicial nomination experts. Our evaluation showed that the President is not the source of the problem. Overall, 17% of the President's confirmed judges have been African American, compared to 7% for President George W. Bush and 16% for President Bill Clinton. More African American federal judges have been confirmed than in President George W. Bush's entire eight years (33 to 24), including more African American Circuit Court judges (8 to 6). The President has appointed the same number of African American Circuit Court judges as President Clinton did in eight years (8).

However, at the present pace of Senate confirmations, we are at risk of losing more African American judges than we gain. The total number of African American judges serving on the federal bench today as Article III judges is 95 out of the 787, or 8.3%. Many of these judges were appointed by President Clinton and have taken or are close to being eligible for senior status as judges.

Our study shows that the "blue slip" system, requiring each state Senator to notify the committee in order for the judge to move forward, has sometimes kept African American nominees, found by bar associations and professional experts to be fully qualified, from moving forward to a hearing, committee vote and confirmation. This deliberately constructed bottleneck has left as our only recourse to come forward today to publically ask Senators, particularly Republicans, to submit the necessary blue slips and move African American judges to confirmation.

We feature Florida in today's press conference because three of our CBC members are from Florida and two African American judges from Florida are among the 10 black nominees who should have moved to the floor for confirmation. We commend Florida Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) for establishing a bipartisan commission. However, Florida shows that even a fair bipartisan commission can be thwarted by the blue slip system. Senator Rubio has not submitted the required blue slips for Brian Davis and William Thomas. Our Representatives from Florida will explain the situation in their state.

At the same time, we want to thank and commend the Republican senators who have been fair in voting to move judges forward on the merits instead of withholding blue slips for Black judges. Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS), Lindsey Graham (R-NC), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) deserve mention. We call on Republican Senators, who are holding up our African American nominees, to allow them to move forward with hearings and confirmation votes. We ask Senators to decline to be a part of any effort that keeps Black nominees from moving forward on the floor.

Of the pending African American nominees, CBC members have asked that we point out six nominees in particular: three nominees who have had hearings and are waiting for a committee vote, two nominees who have been nominated and are waiting for a hearing, and one nominee who has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is waiting for a floor vote. We ask that the Senate move these nominees forward before the August recess.

First, we ask for a floor vote for Vernon Broderick, nominated to the Southern District of New York District Court. Second, we ask for Senate committee votes for the following three nominees: Sara Ellis and Andrea Wood, nominated to the Northern District of Illinois District Court, and Gregory Woods, nominated to the Southern District of New York District Court. Third, we ask the Senate to schedule hearings for the following two nominees: Alison Lee, nominated to the District of South Carolina District Court and Robert Wilkins, nominated to the DC Circuit.

As our country has become one of the most diverse in the world, a judiciary that reflects that diversity is virtually mandatory. Respect for the rule of law requires respect for the fairness of the judiciary. The Senate establishes the threshold of fairness by confirming a judiciary that represents the diversity of the citizenry whose cases federal judges are called upon to decide. The Congressional Black Caucus will not quietly allow highly-qualified African American judges to be sidelined without hearings or to be held up on the Senate floor after being voted out of the committee.

Published: July 17, 2013