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Pryor and Brown: Help Stop Some Real Judicial Activists!
Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. and Judge Janice Rogers Brown will soon come before the full Senate for up-or-down votes. Pryor has been nominated for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal (encompassing Alabama, Florida, and Georgia), and Brown has been nominated for the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. But each of the nominees has their own agenda, which would whittle away at Americans' civil rights and make secularists (religious or non-religious) feel like second-class citizens.
Dear [ Decision Maker ] , It is the duty of the Senate to provide advice and consent to the nomination of judges by presidents. When a judge is not qualified, based upon their record and confirmation hearings, it is perfectly appropriate to reject a nomination. I urge you to reject the nomination of Judge Pryor to the 11th Circuit and the nomination of Judge Brown to the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Pryor recently betrayed his ignorance of our secular constitutional democracy when he suggested during his confirmation hearings that the test of the judiciary was to see if it could "return" U.S. law to its "Christian Roots." As most constitutional scholars recognize, ours is a secular, democratic republic, deriving its authority not from the Bible (or any other religious basis) but from the will of the people. The people in our great country are not all Christians, and the Founders avoided creating a Christian theocracy for just this reason. This statement, and others made by Pryor over the record of his service, show that he intends to pursue the narrow agenda of Christian theocrats and institute something that the Founders never intended. Senator, we also urge you to vote no to Judge Janice Rogers Brown, who has all but publicly declared war on secular Americans, claiming once again with no historical justification that somehow secular humanists are threatening America's allegedly "religious roots." The sort of judicial activism, which seeks to remake our country into a kind of theocracy, must be nipped in the bud. Please exercise your discretion wisely and reject these nominations, as well as any others that seek to undo church-state separation.
Sincerely, |
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| Background Information |
Dear Friend of Secular Humanism,
The recent Senate deal that defused the "nuclear option" puts Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. and Judge Janice Rogers Brown before the full Senate for up-or-down votes. Pryor has been nominated for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (encompassing Alabama, Florida, and Georgia), and Brown has been nominated for the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. But their records betray their lack of qualification for positions that will determine the interpretation of federal law.
Pryor is a vocal opponent of abortion, civil rights, gay rights, and church-state separation. He once called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history." He has singled out gay and lesbian behavior (even between consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes) as being in the same legal category as "activities like prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography, and even incest and pedophilia." He filed an amicus brief in support of Roy Moore’s "Ten Commandments" monument in the Alabama State Judicial Building. And most recently, he stated during his confirmation hearings that the test of our legal system will be to see if we can return to our "Christian roots."
Janice Rogers Brown has declared government the enemy of civilization and argued that religious Americans are "embroiled in a war against secular humanists who threaten to divorce America from its religious roots."
In short, there are excellent reasons why their nominations have been blocked for so long!
As you know, U.S. law is neither based on nor derived from Christianity. Recent articles in Free Inquiry and a debate spanning decades have made it abundantly clear that those who argue for such a basis are twisting the historical basis of our secular constitution. It is crucial that our judiciary respect the constitutional basis of authority in laws that derive from the people and not a Christian God.
Please contact your Senator and tell him or her to reject Judge Pryor’s nomination to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Brown’s nomination to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. (The votes could come this week, so don’t delay!) We have drafted a possible letter to send; feel free to revise it, but please act today to preserve church-state separation.
Thank you,
David Koepsell
Executive Director
Council for Secular Humanism
