CONTACTS:
Christopher Vasquez, NCLR Communications Director
415.365.1337 | cvasquez@nclrights.org

“Today’s action by the United States Senate is an affront to the American people and a threat to the credibility and integrity of the Supreme Court.”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Today, the United States Senate voted along party lines to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. The fast-tracked and highly-partisan process, which took place during the middle of the 2020 election, was one of the quickest confirmations in history and gave Senators only two weeks to understand more than two decades of the judge’s legal philosophy and judicial fitness for the position. NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon issued the following statement in response: 

“Today’s action by the United States Senate is an affront to the American people and a threat to the credibility and integrity of the Supreme Court,” said NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon. “Rushing this nomination through in the middle of a presidential election was fundamentally wrong and a travesty of the process of appointing Supreme Court justices. 60,000,000 Americans have already voted in this election.

The voters who are choosing the next President should also be the ones to choose the future direction of the Supreme Court.  As a result of today’s action, five of the nine justices on the Court have been appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote. No matter who is the winner on Election Day, Congress must explore options for reforming the Court and protecting our democracy.”  

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The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the LGBTQ community’s most vulnerable. https://www.nclrights.org