More than 100 civil and human rights groups call on Senate to reject Kavanaugh

More than a 100 civil and human rights groups are urging senators to oppose Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee.

In a Tuesday letter, led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the groups say Kavanaugh will be a fifth and decisive vote to undermine a host of core rights and legal protections, including economic security and access to healthcare, abortion, voting and labor rights. The groups, which include the NAACP, Lamba Legal and Demand Justice, also the rights of immigrants and persons with disabilities, LGBTQ equality, equal opportunity, affirmative action and environmental protections all could be endangered by Kavanaugh joining the high court.

{mosads}“Many of our organizations opposed Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit, and our fears and concerns have been realized. Judge Kavanaugh has not served as a neutral and fair-minded jurist. He has served as a conservative ideologue who lacks the impartiality and independence necessary to sit on the highest court in the land,” the letter reads.

The groups, which also include NARAL Pro-Choice America, the National Bar Association and the Sierra Club, urge senators to grill Kavanaugh about what he knew about allegations that former 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski sexually harassed his law clerks. The groups note that Kavanaugh formerly clerked for and remained friends with the judge, who resigned over the allegations in December.

The groups also pressed senators on the Judiciary Committee to ensure all requested documents relating to Kavanaugh’s extensive record are produced and examined.

“It has been publicly reported that there could be in excess of a million pages of documents from Judge Kavanaugh’s work in the Bush White House,” they wrote.

“The significant number of documents that exists is likely the reason that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recently made an unprecedented and inappropriate request for more than 100 federal prosecutors and attorneys to assist in document review.”