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HRC: Senate confirmation of William Pryor is a threat to all Americans civil rights

HRC: Senate confirmation of William Pryor is a threat to all Americans civil rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal on Thursday strongly condemned the confirmation of William Pryor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The Senate confirmed Pryor for a lifetime appointment by a vote of 53 to 45, with three Republican senators voting in opposition to his confirmation and two Democrats voting in support. Since his initial nomination by President Bush in 2003, HRC has strongly opposed Pryors nomination as he has a demonstrated track record of bias against the rights of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Americans. The American people deserve justice, not prejudice, said HRC President Joe Solmonese. We thank senators from both parties who stood with us and the civil rights community and we will continue to advocate for fair-minded judges and against radical nominees who would roll back basic civil rights. With judges like Pryor on the courts of appeal, the Supreme Court is more important than ever. As Alabama Attorney General, Pryor consistently demonstrated bias against GLBT Americans, linking the state website to anti-Gay advocacy groups. In an amicus, friend of the court brief, filed in the Lawrence v. Texas case, Pryor compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia. Last year, after receiving a recess appointment to the 11th Circuit, Pryor cast the deciding vote to deny rehearing a challenge to Floridas anti-Gay adoption law. Anyone who lets their own personal prejudices shape their decisions from the bench, poses a threat to the rights of all Americans, added Solmonese. Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart made the following statement: Todays Senate vote giving the most anti-Gay nominee in memory a lifetime appointment to the federal bench is deeply disappointing. But we will continue to fight for fair courts. We cannot sit back and turn over the courts to extremists hostile to equality and civil rights. The confirmation of somebody like William H. Pryor, who has a record of blatant hostility to fairness for Gay people, underscores whats at stake the ability of all people, whether politically popular or not, to get a fair hearing in court. In the weeks ahead well build even stronger opposition to another federal nominee, Terrence Boyle, who has a record of unbroken hostility to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law that protects people with HIV from discrimination. The radical right wants to limit basic civil rights by controlling the courts. All of us Gay or straight, religious or secular have a stake in preserving a judiciary that is guided by fairness, not bigotry. HRC has worked to oppose Pryors nomination since April 2003, lobbying senators and doing educational work within the GLBT community about the importance of the judiciary to the fight for GLBT equal rights. Pryor is one of only seven judges that HRC has opposed-the Senate has confirmed over 200 of the presidents nominees. More than 175 national groups opposed Pryors appointment- including the Log Cabin Republicans, Lambda Legal, the NAACP, NARAL Pro-Choice America, People for the American Way, the Sierra Club and World Association of Persons With Disabilities.


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