Latinos for a Fair Judiciary Hosts Arizona Town Hall on What’s At Stake for Latinos and the U.S. Supreme Court
For Immediate Release: September 27, 2018
Contact:
Jose Aristimuño
jaristimuno@now-strategies.com
202-469-2655
Latinos for a Fair Judiciary Hosts Arizona Town Hall on What’s At Stake for Latinos and the U.S. Supreme Court
Recording of the event available HERE
Phoenix, AZ — On Monday, September 24, 2018, Latinos for a Fair Judiciary, hosted a digital town hall that brought together Latino community leaders and subject matter experts who discussed what is at stake with the possible nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The town hall came at a critical turning point in the nomination with sexual allegations casting a dark shadow over Judge Kavanaugh and calls for him to withdraw his nomination increasing. In addition, the town hall provided members of the public and students of Arizona State University an opportunity to discuss the importance of this nomination to the Arizona community and the nation.
The event was hosted by Univision anchor and reporter, Heidi Renpenning, and was held at Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law at Arizona State University. The panelists included: Charles Calleros, Professor of Law, Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law at Arizona State University, Angelica Castillo Melendez, LULAC Arizona Deputy District 1, Director for Young Adults and President of LULAC Council #1191, Laura Dent, Executive Director of Chispa Arizona, League of Conservation Voters, Melissa García, Associate Director of Raíz Organizing, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and Andrea Nill Sanchez, Director of Latinos for a Fair Judiciary
“For purpose of confirmation, I think the critical questions are these: Is Judge Kavanaugh qualified and does he have the integrity and ethics appropriate for highest court of the land? Integrity turns out to be the big issue and the one that I predict would force his nomination to be withdrawn,” said Calleros, who was presenting his own views and not speaking as a representative of Arizona State University.
“It is clear that Kavanaugh’s nomination is the latest attack to our communities by the Trump administration to take away women’s access to health care,” said Garcia. “Kavanaugh’s record says it all, if given a chance he would overturn Roe v. Wade. Just last year, he attempted to use his judicial power to prevent young undocumented women in U.S. custody from accessing safe, legal abortion.”
“One of the things that stood out about Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings is the many Senators who brought up valid questions — but Republicans were quick to dismiss them,” said Castillo Melendez. “It is very suspicious that this was happening during such an important process and that these Senators went against tradition, especially for such an important hearing.
“Kavanaugh has a record of undercutting voter I.D. laws and if confirmed we can see him giving weight to redistricting challenges and voting rights that will hurt access to the political process for communities of color,” said Dent.
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Latinos for a Fair Judiciary (LFJ) provides Latino leaders across the nation a platform and voice in matters related to our nation’s judicial system. LFJ is an unaffiliated, non-partisan, independent network of elected officials, legal, civil rights, labor, academic and political leaders who care deeply about the impact that the Supreme Court has on the Latino community. Our mission is to raise public awareness around the pressing legal issues Latinos are facing and call attention to the significance of the Supreme Court.