WASHINGTON, D.C., May 22, 2019 – Following today’s Senate vote to confirm Howard Nielson to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, AFJ President Nan Aron released the following statement:
“Howard Nielson’s confirmation to the federal bench puts the rights of people of Utah in jeopardy. He has fought efforts to ensure equality in education for people of color, as well as women’s reproductive rights and access to affordable health care. He once argued a judge should not have been allowed to hear a marriage equality case because the judge was in a same-sex relationship. He’s been a go-to attorney for the NRA and a defender of the infamous ‘torture memos’ created during the George W. Bush administration, in which he served. His record shows allegiance to a partisan far-right ideology rather than to the law, and that does not bode well for his future on the district court.”