The Senate this week confirmed Allison Jones Rushing, 37, a former intern at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the conservative Christian organization designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. ADF has backed “recriminalization of homosexuality in the U.S.”
All Republicans present voted to confirm. All Democrats opposed.
The HuffPost reports: ‘She has argued that there were “moral and practical” reasons for banning same-sex marriage. And some lawmakers said she simply lacks the experience or legal ability to be a federal judge. “She has practiced law for nine years. How many cases has she tried to verdict or judgment? Four. Has she been the lead attorney on any of those cases? No,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on the Senate floor. “That is the most scant, weakest legal resume imaginable for someone who’s seeking a lifetime appointment to the second-highest court of the land.”’
The WaPo adds: ‘In addition, Rushing defended the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, and said she supported the four conservative justices who dissented when the Supreme Court struck down the ruling in 2015.’
Politico reports on the alarming fact that 1 in 5 judges on the Circuit Court is a Trump-nominated judge, and there is a list about to be ushered in the door by a rule change from Mitch McConnell: ‘The Senate is on track to confirm the 34th Circuit Court judge of Trump’s presidency in the next week and the GOP has three more ready for floor action; that would give Trump roughly 20 percent of the Circuit Court seats in the country after just two years in office. At this rate, McConnell and Trump could leave few, if any, vacancies there for a potential Democratic president in 2021.Even more alarming for Democrats, the GOP is also preparing to pull the trigger on the “nuclear option” and change Senate rules once again with a simple majority to allow much quicker confirmation of lower court judges in the coming months.’
