Sutton
Confirmed
Dear Colleagues:
Thank your for your active opposition to the confirmation of Jeffrey Sutton to
the Federal Court. While we did not stop him, your efforts led to a
confirmation vote that was one of the closest in 25 years.
During that battle, we heard from many on the other side that Sutton was just
a "hired gun." Well, now the man who hired Sutton to weaken the ADA in the
Garrett case, Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, has also been nominated
to the Court -- just one step away from the Supreme Court. Pryor's hearing is
scheduled for this Wednesday and we will collect opposition statements before
and following this hearing. Along with our coalition partners, we can stop
this nomination. (See info on Pryor's record below).
What made a difference in the Sutton campaign were the stacks of petitions and
letterheads from organizations who were opposed to confirmation. Sen. Harkin,
Sen. Leahy, and others held up these documents on the floor of the US Senate
to demonstrate the extent of the disability community's concern about the
assault on the ADA by activist judges.
Jim Ward, President
National Coalition for Disability Rights
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20004
V: 202.661.4722 F: 202.318.4040 E:
adawatch@aol.com W: www.adawatch.org
Sutton To Get Hearing on January 14
Thanks to Daniel Davis of NCIL for tracking down the
following article that says a tentative hearing has been set for Court of
Appeals nominee Jeffrey Sutton. The first part of the article focuses on
another nominee, Deborah Cook, but both Cook and Sutton are expected to have a
hearing on January 14.
Jonathan Young, PhD
JFA Editor, AAPD
========================================
Visiting judges to sit in for high court's Cook
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
By Jack Torry and Jonathan Riskind
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
WASHINGTON -- Justice Deborah Cook will not take part in any cases argued
before the Ohio Supreme Court as the U.S. Senate takes up her nomination to a
seat on the federal court of appeals in Cincinnati.
In a letter yesterday, Cook agreed to a recommendation by Chief Justice Thomas
J. Moyer that she recuse herself from hearing cases until the Senate holds a
floor vote. Moyer said that he would assign state judges to replace Cook
during oral arguments.
Moyer has said that if Cook takes a seat on the federal bench, the Ohio
Supreme Court might have to rehear cases that she participated in.
"I agree it would be prudent for visiting judges to sit in my stead on the
merit cases for the coming weeks,'' Cook wrote to Moyer. She would still take
part in procedural motions, including whether to accept future cases.
Moyer acted after aides to Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, advised him that the
Senate Judiciary Committee has tentatively scheduled confirmation hearings for
Jan. 14 for Cook and former Ohio solicitor Jeffrey S. Sutton. President Bush
nominated Sutton and Cook to fill vacancies on the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of
Appeals.
Although Moyer told Cook that the full Senate would confirm her in February,
Mike Dawson, a spokesman for DeWine, would say only that the Senate "might"
confirm her by February. The Republicans hold a slim, two-seat margin in the
new Senate, and Democrats can rely on procedural actions to delay any
nomination.
Sutton and Cook have provoked intense opposition from a number of Democrats
and their allies in some legal organizations in Washington. Outgoing Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., declined to hold hearings
on the two nominations, even though Bush made them in May 2001.
With the Republicans regaining control of the chamber in the November
elections, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the new chairman, has vowed to promptly
hold hearings on many of Bush's judicial nominees.
It is not unusual for justices to recuse themselves from specific cases
because of possible conflicts of interest. But this situation, in which a
justice won't hear any cases for a protracted period of time, "hasn't happened
in recent memory," said Jay Wuebbold, Ohio Supreme Court spokesman.
It costs taxpayers $50 per day to pay an "assigned judge'' to replace a
sitting Ohio Supreme Court justice. Assigned judges, who typically are state
appellate judges, normally hear a case and vote on the outcome but do not
write opinions. There likely will be a number of different assigned judges
needed to fill in for Cook, Wuebbold said.
jtorry@dispatch.com
jriskind@dispatch.com
Caption: President Bush wants Ohio Supreme Court Justice Deborah Cook to join
the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
http://libpub.dispatch.com/cgi-bin/documentv1?DBLIST=cd02&DOCNUM=57612&TERMV
ACTION ALERT!! Join Sutton
Opposition!
A petition is now being circulated by ADA Watch to mobilize
opposition to Sutton. This petition is provided below and available on the web
at www.adawatch.org. Also below is a letter from AAPD President Andy Imparato
to President George Bush, urging the president not to renominate Jeffrey
Sutton.
Numerous organizations, including AAPD, decided to oppose President Bush's
nomination of Jeffrey Sutton to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (which
includes Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky) shortly after his name was
put forward in May of 2001. Sutton is the attorney who argued the Garrett case
in front of the Supreme Court on behalf of the State of Alabama holding that
the ADA was unconstitutional as applied to State employers in suits for
damages. He also argued on behalf of the State of Georgia in the Olmstead
case, thankfully losing in his contention that that ADA did not prohibit
unnecessary institutionalization of two women with mental disabilities. In
part because of the substantial opposition his nomination produced from the
disability community, he was never scheduled for a hearing in the last
Congress. According to recent press reports, it looks like he will be
renominated by President Bush next week and possibly scheduled for a hearing
as early as January 14.
Don't Delay, Take Action Today!
Jonathan Young, PhD
JFA Editor, AAPD
=========================
ADA WATCH
National Coalition for Disability Rights
Please Distribute:
Urgent Reply Requested
Dear ADA Supporter:
Your help is urgently needed to prevent the confirmation of Jeffrey Sutton to
a lifetime seat on the Federal Court. Sutton is expected to receive a hearing
before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 14th. Hundreds of nonpartisan
disability organizations and many more individuals are opposing Sutton because
he is a States Rights activist who has weakened the ADA and other civil rights
laws. If you have not joined us - either as an organization or as an
individual - now is the time to act.
Even if you have already opposed Sutton, here is what we need you to do:
1. Sign the Stop Sutton! Petition at www.adawatch.org - organizations should
also FAX a statement opposing Sutton on your letterhead to: 202-318-4040
2. Distribute the attached petition and FAX completed copies (without a cover
letter) to: 202-318-4040 (We will hand deliver petitions to the Senate.)
3. Call your Senators/Come to Washington! We need you to join us on January
14th to send a message to the Senate to reject judicial nominees who oppose
disability rights. (Check www.adawatch.com for the scheduled hearing time.)
4. Organize a Stop Sutton! Rapid Response Team. Distribute this notice and
petition broadly; manage phone banks to call the Senate; mobilize disability
rights supporters to come to DC; write letters to the editor (using background
information at www.adawatch.org); organize editorial board meetings; etc.
Please join our bipartisan effort to ensure that lifetime seats on the Federal
judiciary are filled by those who support the right to equal opportunity.
Sincerely,
Jim Ward
President and Founder, ADA Watch
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 202-661-4722
FAX: 202-318-4040
Email: adawatch@aol.com
WEB: www.adawatch.org
Stop Sutton!
To President George W. Bush, Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Patrick Leahy, and
members of the U.S. Senate:
WHEREAS
President George W. Bush has declared that: "Every day our nation was
segregated was a day that America was unfaithful to our founding ideals. And
the founding ideals of our nation and, in fact, the founding ideals of the
political party I represent was, and remains today, the equal dignity and
equal rights of every American";
WHEREAS
Numerous editorials have called for a reassessment of President Bush's
judicial nominees, including the New York Times editorial of December 22, 2002
which stated: "It seems clearer than ever that the White House and the Senate
should conduct a more rigorous review of current and future judicial nominees'
records"..."and disqualify any whose commitment to equal rights is at all in
doubt;"
WHEREAS
People with disabilities are fully deserving of the federal civil rights
protections included in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA);
WHEREAS
Jeffrey Sutton, nominated last year to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit, has been a leader in the effort to limit congressional power to
enact laws protecting civil rights. Sutton has prevailed in a series of 5-4
cases before the Supreme Court that have curtailed civil rights, including the
Board of Trustees of Alabama v. Garrett, which successfully challenged the
constitutionality of applying the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to
states as employers. (Sutton argued that the protections of the ADA were "not
needed" to remedy discrimination by states against people with disabilities.
This decision prevents persons with disabilities from collecting monetary
damages from state employers. Most significantly, it has resulted in fewer
attorneys being willing to represent individuals in ADA cases against state
employers.);
WHEREAS
Sutton filed a brief representing the state of Georgia before the Supreme
Court in Olmstead v. L.C. arguing that unnecessarily keeping people with
disabilities in institutions was not discrimination. (Ruling against the
segregation and unnecessary institutionalization of people with disabilities,
the Supreme Court reversed in a groundbreaking decision supporting
desegregation.)
WHEREAS
Sutton has successfully argued against civil rights in Sandoval v. Alabama
(holding that there is no private right of action under Title VI of the 1964
Civil Rights Act's disparate impact regulations); and United States v.
Morrison (holding that the civil remedy provisions of the Violence Against
Women Act was beyond Congress's power to enact).
AND WHEREAS
Sutton has not just acted as an advocate for his clients, but has admitted
that he is often "on the lookout" for cases that support his hostility towards
Federal civil rights protections and has strongly advocated going far beyond
the Court's 5-4 majority in restricting Congress's power to protect civil
rights;
THEREFORE, BE IT KNOWN
The undersigned joins hundreds of disability and civil rights
organizations in opposing the confirmation of Jeffrey Sutton to the Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals and respectfully requests that the U.S. Senate vote
against his confirmation. The undersigned further requests that President Bush
select judicial nominees supportive of disability and civil rights.
Sincerely,
Name: Email:
Address: Date:
Telephone:
Please Distribute and Fax Completed Petitions (without cover) to: 202-318-4040
January 3, 2003
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush:
On behalf of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), I
write respectfully to urge you not to renominate Jeffrey Sutton to the Sixth
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when the new Congress assembles next week.
Jeffrey Sutton's activist efforts to limit Congressional authority in the area
of disability rights has undermined your father's legacy as the signer of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and represents a real threat to the
civil and human rights of all Americans.
In Garrett v. University of Alabama, Mr. Sutton argued successfully that
Congress did not have the authority under the Constitution to apply the ADA to
States in employment discrimination suits for damages. He argued that
unnecessary institutionalization should not be a violation of the ADA in the
L.C. v. Olmstead case, but thankfully the Supreme Court declined to follow his
lead in that case.
Mr. President, you have repeatedly indicated your support for the ADA. You
have signed an executive order calling for widespread and coordinated
implementation of the Olmstead decision throughout your Administration. You
have promoted a New Freedom Initiative with the goals of opening opportunities
and removing barriers to full participation for the more than 50 million
Americans with disabilities. Why, then, elevate someone to a lifetime
appointment to a federal appeals court whose view of the Constitution will
erect new barriers for Americans with disabilities seeking to assert their
rights in federal court?
Since you nominated Jeffrey Sutton in May of 2001, AAPD has joined literally
hundreds of national, state and local disability organizations to oppose his
appointment. It is unprecedented for our community to speak out so loudly in
opposition to a judicial nominee, and we do so because we are convinced that
his extreme views represent a real threat to our civil rights. Please honor
your commitment to a strong ADA and refrain from renominating Mr. Sutton to a
federal judgeship. Please listen to the strong protests of your constituents
with disabilities and put forward candidates who understand the importance of
Congress's ability to remedy this nation's abysmal history of exclusion,
segregation, sterilization, institutionalization and impoverishment of its
citizens with disabilities.
Mr. President, we need your leadership to help us stem a tide of activist
court decisions that are weakening the Constitutional underpinnings of
disability rights laws and threatening your agenda on behalf of Americans with
disabilities. Having ridden that tide to national prominence, Jeffrey Sutton
does not deserve your support.
Sincerely yours,
Andrew J. Imparato
President and CEO
American Association of People with Disabilities
# # #
=====================
JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of the
American Association of People with Disabilities
www.aapd-dc.org
www.jfanow.org
There's strength in numbers! Be a part of a national
coalition of people with disabilities and join AAPD today.
www.aapd-dc.org.
Last Updated on
04/14/04
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