Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Artist John Legend Tout Dale Ho Nomination in New Demand Justice Video
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2021
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Schumer’s Recommendation of Ho For Federal Judgeship Signals New Era of Emphasizing Professional Diversity on Bench
WASHINGTON, DC— In a new video conversation released following Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of voting rights lawyer Dale Ho, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, artist and activist John Legend, and Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon discuss the importance of Ho’s confirmation in the effort to bring greater professional diversity to the courts.
In the video, Leader Schumer says: “ I asked around and I said, ‘who are the best voting rights lawyers in the country?’ And Dale Ho’s name was on every list as just about the best. He was just a brilliant guy. I always meet these folks, and I want to see that they are not just purely intellectual people, that they walk among people, that they’re practical, that they understand people’s needs and empathies – and Dale Ho struck me as that, right away.”
Legend says: “So often the federal judiciary has not reflected the diversity of our citizenry….In these very powerful positions, we’ve seen the headlines of what federal courts are deciding: things like voting rights, things like a woman’s right to choose, so many issues that are fundamental to liberty in this country. That’s what excites me about Dale Ho’s nomination – it signals a new era for the federal judiciary.”
Ho, the Voting Rights Director for the American Civil Liberties Union, was recommended by Schumer and nominated by President Biden earlier this year for a judgeship in the Southern District of New York. This week, legal experts from across the political spectrum, including former and current Republican-appointed judges and top Republican advocates, spoke out in favor of Ho’s confirmation, including former New York Court of Appeals Judge Robert Smith, Texas Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Blacklock, and Carter Phillips.
Ho is the latest example of the refreshing approach that Schumer has taken when it comes to suggesting names to the Biden administration for judicial vacancies in his home state of New York. Schumer stands out among all Democrats in the Senate for having proposed the highest number of professionally diverse lawyers for federal judgeships. In addition to Ho, Schumer also recommended another voting rights expert, Myrna Pérez of the Brennan Center, for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Schumer also recommended a federal public defender, Eunice Lee, for another seat on the Second Circuit, and suggested a trio of civil rights lawyers — Jessica Clarke, Nusrat Choudhury and Nina Morrison — for district court openings.
The full conversation between Schumer, Legend and Fallon can be viewed here.
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