WASHINGTON, D.C., July 14, 2021 – Today the Senate Judiciary Committee convened to consider the nomination of Myrna Pérez to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Pérez is an extremely well qualified nominee, with extensive expertise in civil rights law. She has dedicated the majority of her career to protecting the voting rights of people of color and other historically marginalized groups, and she currently serves as a highly regarded legal scholar at New York University School of Law, where she is the Director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Voting Rights and Education Program.
During Pérez’s confirmation hearing, several Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Pérez’s record and reputation, while also reminding the nation of their firm opposition to voting rights.
Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron issued the following statement:
“President Biden has shown tremendous vision and leadership by nominating Myrna Pérez to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. As one of the nation’s leading experts on voting rights and civil rights law, Myrna Pérez brings important professional diversity to the federal bench, and is precisely the type of judge that this nation so desperately needs. Her nomination also comes at a time when Republican state legislators and conservative judicial extremists have declared an all-out assault on voting rights — the bedrock foundation upon which our entire democratic system of government rests. Today’s hearing put her brilliance on full display, and every American should be proud of the work Myrna Pérez has done to advance the rule of law and protect the foundations of our democracy.
“Unfortunately, many Senate Republicans used today’s confirmation hearings to distort the advice and consent process, creating an unseemly and hyper-partisan circus. Instead of a good faith examination of Myrna Pérez’s exceptional qualifications and record, she was subjected to an unfair interrogation attempting to paint her work on voting rights as tantamount to extremism. She was even called a ‘radical.’ Alliance for Justice calls on the Senate to ignore this partisan posturing, and quickly confirm this exceptionally qualified nominee to the federal bench.”