Washington, D.C. –Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-9 along party lines to advance the nomination of Thomas Farr to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Michele Jawando, vice president for Legal Progress at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
The Senate should reject a judicial nominee who has spent his legal career working to restrict the rights of African American voters and oppose the rights of workers. Thomas Farr defended North Carolina’s illegal voter identification law that was designed to suppress African American voter turnout. He also represented the late Sen. Jesse Helms during the senator’s notoriously racist campaign in the 1990s. His disturbing record shows that he can’t be trusted to uphold the nation’s civil rights laws and is unfit to serve on the federal bench.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202-478-6327.