Norton Wants CBC to Weigh, Not Rush to Support a Supreme Court Nominee, Considering CBC Priorities

Norton Wants CBC to Weigh, Not Rush to Support a Supreme Court Nominee, Considering CBC Priorities this Year

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who handles Supreme Court and other federal court nominations for the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), today talked with CBC Chair Barbara Lee (D-CA) concerning Norton's recommendation as to how to proceed on the nomination to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Norton will recommend that the CBC refrain from making a nomination for the time being because the list appears to be expanding every week.

"While some of the candidates appear to be promising, none stand out so singularly as to demand our immediate support without further study," Norton said. The next candidate is not likely to change the present 5-4 balance of the court against the interest of the CBC, particularly since Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who was often the swing vote, is increasingly voting with the very conservative majority that was formed with the addition of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, and Justice Samuel Alito, the Congresswoman said.

Norton added, "There is a crowded agenda with issues that the CBC is pressing as ‘must-do' this year - job creation, economic recovery, and financial regulatory reform, among them. An early nominee for the Supreme Court is of great importance to the CBC, considering the Court's direct impact on racial issues. However, considering that the next nominee will not change the balance on the conservative court, I will recommend to the CBC that we not join the rush for a nominee during this election year pressing through a candidate to satisfy Republicans if it means, for example, settling on a nominee significantly more conservative than Justice Stevens.