In Alabama and across the country, Andrew Brasher, Donald Trump’s nominee to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, has fought against rights for women, communities of color, and LGBTQ communities, as well as reproductive, consumer, worker, and environmental protections. Brasher, Alabama’s Solicitor General, has a long record of affiliations with far-right groups, and has spoken 16 times before the Federalist Society and 3 times before the Koch-backed and Scott Pruitt-led “Rule of Law Defense Fund.”
Reproductive Rights
Brasher is currently defending an unconstitutional law that would allow a judge to appoint an attorney for a fetus and the DA to call witnesses to testify regarding a minor’s maturity. He has defended other unlawful anti-choice policies, including laws requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, restricting where facilities that provide abortions can be located based on proximity to schools, and “effectively criminaliz[ing] the most common method of second-trimester abortions.” In 2014, Brasher, on behalf of the Attorney General, told a crowd, “The ACLU and Planned Parenthood want a fight and we will give them one.” Brasher challenged the contraceptive mandate in the ACA, and, in his personal capacity, even questioned the validity of Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Civil Rights
Brasher filed an amicus brief in Shelby County v. Holder that supported eroding the Voting Rights Act, defended Alabama’s felon anti-voter law that, according to one study, disenfranchises over 286,000 Alabamians, and supported an Arizona law, rejected by the Supreme Court, requiring voters to show proof of citizenship before voting. Brasher has a history of defending unconstitutional racial gerrymanders in Alabama and in Virginia. He wrote in his personal capacity criticizing the Supreme Court’s efforts to correct racial gerrymanders.
Brasher filed an amicus brief in support of a Florida law mandating universal drug testing for TANF applicants – an unconstitutional law that would have made low income families pay for drug tests, and that the Eleventh Circuit found stripped away the “legitimate expectations of privacy” “by virtue of [their] poverty.” Brasher has also attacked LGBTQ rights, filing a brief opposing marriage equality in Obergefell, defending Alabama’s ban on marriage equality, and donating to the political campaign of a judge who supported conversion therapy.
Death Penalty and Criminal Justice
Brasher repeatedly defended death sentences that were struck down by the courts, including Florida’s unconstitutional law that allowed judges to overrule juries and impose the death penalty. He sought the death penalty for a defendant with mental illness despite the state’s failure to provide sufficient access to a competent psychiatrist as required under federal law, and also advocated for the position that children can be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Worker and Consumer Protections
Brasher defended an Alabama law retaliating against the Alabama Education Association by restricting its members’ ability to pay dues to the Association unless it stopped engaging in any political activity. He has repeatedly opposed the right of individuals to band together to hold corporations accountable, and also joined Scott Pruitt and Texas Governor Greg Abbott in challenging the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Environment
Brasher gave two speeches criticizing the Clean Water Rule – a common sense safeguard that protects America’s streams, wetlands, and safe drinking water – and served as the lead attorney for Alabama in attempting to block the Rule. Brasher has also attacked protections for endangered species.