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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Josh Bell, 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

ACLU Statement on Cloture Petition Filed on Barron Nomination

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today that he had filed cloture on the nomination of David Barron to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The American Civil Liberties Union does not endorse or oppose any judicial nominee, but has urged senators to not vote on the Barron nomination until reading all of the legal opinions on targeted killing that he wrote while in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office had this comment:

WASHINGTON

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today that he had filed cloture on the nomination of David Barron to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The American Civil Liberties Union does not endorse or oppose any judicial nominee, but has urged senators to not vote on the Barron nomination until reading all of the legal opinions on targeted killing that he wrote while in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office had this comment:

"No senator can meaningfully carry out his or her constitutional obligation of providing 'advice and consent' on the nomination without reading all of Mr. Barron's opinions on the drone program. The White House has continued to play hide the ball by not providing all of the opinions written or signed by Mr. Barron on targeted killing, regardless of citizenship. The memos raise fundamental due process and rule of law issues, and no senator should agree to vote on the nomination without first getting each and every one of his memos on targeted killing."

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

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