Latino Leaders Rally and Protest Over Deep Concerns About Judge Kavanaugh’s Nomination and its Impact on the Latino Community
For Immediate Release: September 7, 2018
Contact:
Jose Aristimuño
jaristimuno@now-strategies.com
202-469-2655
Latino Leaders Rally and Protest Over Deep Concerns About Judge Kavanaugh’s Nomination and its Impact on the Latino Community
Nevada, Arizona and Florida community members gather in DC for a week of action during SCOTUS nominee hearings
Washington, D.C. — This week, as the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh the U.S. Supreme Court, Latinos for a Fair Judiciary (LFJ) mobilized Latino voices to highlight Kavanaugh’s troubling record on immigration, voting rights, racial justice, and other issues critical to the future of the Latino community.
“Since Kavanaugh’s nomination, Latino leaders across the country have expressed serious concerns about his record and demanded that the hearings and vote be suspended until all of his records are released and reviewed,” stated Andrea Nill Sanchez of Latinos for a Fair Judiciary. “This week’s hearings only underscored Judge Kavanaugh’s troubling views. While his testimony wavered between evasive and unresponsive, the late release of documents combined with the potential conflicts revealed in the documents that were released this week only raise more concerns with this nominee and this nomination process.”
“The evasiveness of Judge Kavanaugh on critical issues of jurisprudence coupled with the disregard for transparency of the Senate leadership during these confirmation hearings only confirm that that they should be suspended immediately,” said Juan Cartagena, President of LatinoJustice. “LatinoJustice has already raised a number of red flags this nomination holds for the constitutional rights of Latinx communities. And now there is one more: Judge Kavanaugh refuses to answer questions about the hoax of massive voter fraud in our country.”
On Wednesday, September 5th, LFJ participated in the #LatinosAtStake event at Alliance for Justice and MoveOn.org Rally at the U.S. Capitol. Here, speakers included Lucy Flores, Former Nevada Assemblywoman, Karina Cabrera Bell, Founder and CEO of the Reach Mama Network, Teo Argueta, Community Organizer, Chispa from Arizona, and Frances Colon, Government Advocate for Science and Innovation in Public Policy and Diplomacy from Florida.
“What will happen to us when hate is left unchecked and our rights are slowly stripped away by a judge who thinks that some people, whether they be women or immigrants, are less deserving of rights and protections than others? I don’t know about you, but I never want to find out,” said Lucy Flores, Former Nevada Assemblywoman.
On Thursday, September 6th LFJ hosted a Mariachi Protest Concert in front of the U.S. Supreme Court with the Latin Grammy award-winning, all-female mariachi group, Flor de Toloache.
LFJ also mobilized and participated in a national call-in day on Tuesday September 4th with partners across the country.
At the local level, LFJ co-sponsored a press conference on Wednesday September 5th with South Florida advocates in Miami urging Florida senators to oppose the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Speakers included Sonya Brown-Wilson of Miami Workers Center, Ana Pantoja, of the Florida Latina Advocacy Network of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Paula Muñoz of Florida Immigrant Coalition, Tiffany Richards of Equality Florida, Samantha Daley of Power U Center for Social Change, and Jeffery Mitchell of with AFL-CIO.
Latinos for a Fair Judiciary will now continue the campaign to raise the power of the Latino constituency as Senators move forward to decide their votes.
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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.