Skip to main content
Statement

Moms Organization Praises Supreme Court Nominee, Urges Congress to Avoid Obstructionism

March 16, 2016

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

“Even before President Obama had time to consider a nominee to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacancy on the Supreme Court, Republicans in Congress said they would oppose anyone he nominated. We at MomsRising hope that was just political hyperbole and that Congressional leaders will recognize that the President’s Constitutional responsibility and the good of the nation are more important than partisanship.
 
“By all accounts, Judge Merrick Garland is an excellent choice to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. He is widely recognized as a thoughtful judge who shows no ideological bias, and has been praised by both liberals and conservatives. In fact, when he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Bill Clinton, he was confirmed by a vote of 76 to 23, and won support from 32 Republican senators.
 
“It’s important to note that while we strongly support Judge Garland’s nomination, MomsRising was a part of an effort led by the Black Women’s Round Table to urge the President to nominate an African American woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, thereby further increasing the diversity of the Court and adding the first-ever African American female Supreme Court Justice. We are disappointed that did not happen. Representation that reflects the diversity of people in our nation in all sectors of government – including the Supreme Court of the United States — is critical.
 
“What our nation needs right now is not another partisan, ideological battle. We need a complete Supreme Court to decide the crucial Constitutional issues before it. We need a Congress that respects and stands by the Constitution and is prepared to fulfill its role in helping to fill that Supreme Court. And we need to see our nation’s leaders come together and act for the good of our society. That will not be achieved by blindly opposing a well-respected, well-qualified jurist and leaving a vacancy on the nation’s highest court for nine months.
 
“We urge Congress to rise above partisan politics, to examine closely Judge Garland’s qualifications, and to seriously consider his nomination as the Constitution dictates. Our nation’s laws and the fabric of our society depend on it.”
 

# # # #

MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.