WASHINGTON, D.C., July 31, 2019 – Following today’s Senate votes to confirm Brantley Starr to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and Jeffrey Brown to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, AFJ President Nan Aron released the following statement:
“The confirmations of Brantley Starr and Jeffrey Brown tighten the grip of ultraconservative ideologues on federal courts in the state, and will make it harder for people in Texas to exercise their rights. Brown is an anti-LGBTQ, anti-reproductive rights, anti-worker judge. Starr has embraced Donald Trump’s xenophobic attacks on immigrants and has reportedly spun false stories about voter fraud in his efforts to curtail voting rights. These confirmations are very troubling and are likely to have painful effects on the lives of millions of Texans.”