WASHINGTON - May 26 - In response to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas had the following statement:

“President Bush and the Senate Republicans have succeeded today in putting a partisan lapdog into a powerful, lifetime position on the federal bench. Brett Kavanaugh has spent his career as a partisan operative, carrying out the will of the Bush administration and twisting legal arguments to benefit his political ideology. The nation desperately needs fair-minded judges who will safeguard the rights of the powerless against the powerful -- judges who are beholden to no political party or ideology. Brett Kavanaugh is precisely the wrong choice.

“It’s especially troubling that he will serve on the second highest court in the nation, where he will rule on decisions made by Bush administration agencies – issues such as government secrecy, environmental regulations, health and safety for workers, personal privacy for medical and financial records, and much more. When it comes down to a choice between the people and the politicians, how will Judge Kavanaugh rule? His obvious political loyalties, combined with his lack of judicial experience, make it doubtful that he will be the fair-minded jurist the public deserves.

“With one party poised to control all three branches of government, our system of checks and balances continues to erode. The Bush administration continues to pack the federal courts with political cronies and ideologues. Brett Kavanaugh is one more example of how President Bush’s radical right-wing appointments to the federal courts will extend the reach of his administration’s plans and policies far beyond the end of his term.”

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