Washington, D.C.- Congresswoman Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus along with civil rights and women organizations to hold press conference outling opposition to Judge Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, on Wednesday, October 24, 2007, 9:30 AM in Rayburn House Building Room 2203.

“Judge Leslie Southwick has routinely displayed his indifference to fairness and an impaired sense of justice,” said Chairwoman Kilpatrick. “Citizens governed by the Fifth Circuit want and deserve better. Judge Southwick’s record on women, the environment, workforce development, gender equity, and civil rights issues make him unworthy of such a lifetime position.”

The Fifth Circuit is the last line of enforcement of federal rights for residents of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.             Conversely, the Fifth Circuit has the highest percentage of minority residents - black and brown – but only one African American serves on the Fifth Circuit Court. No African American from Mississippi has ever served on this court; African Americans constitute 37% percent of the state’s population.

“The Southwick nomination is the third, made by the Bush Administration, to appoint an anti-civil rights judge to Mississippi’s highest court,” said Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the Homeland Security Committee and the only Member of the Congressional Black Caucus from Mississippi. “In the lineage of Charles Pickering and Michael Wallace, Leslie Southwick does not have the judicial temperament to serve on this bench.”

“The record of Leslie Southwick is peppered with hostility towards African Americans and members of the gay and lesbian community, which serves to undercut the neutrality of the Fifth Circuit of Appeals and the entire American judicial system,” remarked Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The Jena, Louisiana case magnifies the racism in the criminal justice system within the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit. We cannot afford a nominee hostile to civil and human rights.”

“As an attorney and Louisiana native, I know how badly the people of Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana need judges who are not biased against women, people of color, gays and lesbians, consumers, workers, accident and malpractice victims, and anyone seeking redress of their rights,” said Kim Gandy, President of the National Organization for Women. “Leslie Southwick does not begin to qualify.”

According to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, “Judge Southwick has unabashedly supported efforts to marginalize African American jurors, in turn tilting the scales of justice.” Congressman Al Green added, “The confirmation of Southwick would potentially paralyze the nation’s movement towards a New South and cause insult and injury to our democracy.”

The Congressional Black Caucus, 43 Members representing 40 million Americans from 21 states has vehemently expressed opposition to Judge Southwick and will continue to ensure fair and just jurisprudence for all Americans.