Two national coalitions, one of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights groups and the other of disabilities rights groups, have announced their opposition to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court.
On Monday, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays announced their opposition jointly. Executive Director of the Task Force Matt Foreman stated, “[Alito’s] record shows open and declared hostility to reproductive rights, to the power of Congress to protect all Americans, to the values of diversity, to established, fair and effective rules in enforcing non-discrimination protections and to appropriate constraints on official and public space religious expression.”
Tuesday, a coalition of disability rights organizations including ADA Watch/ National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR), Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the National Association for People with AIDS, the National Council on Independent Living, and the World Association of Persons with Disabilities also announced their opposition. Jim Ward, President of ADA Watch/NCDR, emphasized that Alito has “a record which places him well outside the mainstream,” an assertion echoed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), who commented that Alito’s record indicates “judicial activism of the most clear-cut sort.”
And both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win Leadership Council of Unions also came out against Alito this week. “No question momentum against Alito is growing,” said Eleanor Smeal, President of Feminist Majority.
Labor, disability and LGBT groups join a growing coalition of opposition that includes the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Women’s Law Center, the Feminist Majority, the National Organization for Women, the National Council of Women’s Organizations, People for the American Way, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Alliance for Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Council of Jewish Women, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Abortion Federation, and the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.
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