When Democratic presidents nominate leftist minority group members to the federal bench, it’s win-win for them. Either they get a leftist confirmed plus the right to brag about how much they’re doing for minorities or the Democrats can castigate Republicans for being mean to minorities.
The nomination of Dax Lopez to the federal district court for the Northern District of Georgia is a classic example. Lopez is Hispanic (and Jewish too). But Sen. David Perdue stood up to the pressure to rubber stamp his nomination and blocked iy.
Now Perdue is feeling the backlash, as is clear from this article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The Hispanic National Bar Association has blasted Perdue, as has the Anti-Defamation League. And the Democrats, of course, are playing this for all they think it’s worth. Antonio Molina, the caucus chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia sniffed:
These kinds of partisan games only reinforce what we already know about the GOP—there is no room at their table for Latinos. They’ve now gone from blocking commonsense immigration reform and opportunity for DREAMers to depriving Georgia of a talented legal mind for no other reason than his association with the Latino community.
But should Lopez be confirmed? In my view, the Democrats are lucky that any Obama nominees are being taken up in his lame duck year. Indeed, I believe that Republicans should have enforced a strong presumption against any judicial confirmations in response to President Obama’s lawless executive amnesty.
That aside, Perdue was right to block this particular nominee. Why?
First, he and fellow Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson received many letters from state legislators and law enforcement officials opposing Lopez’s nomination. In fact, the sheriffs of Georgia’s second and third most populous counties (Gwinett and Cobb) opposed it. So did the State Senate Majority Whip and State Senate Majority Caucus Chairman.
Second, Lopez is a radical who favors lawlessness as a means to accomplish his policy preferences. He served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO). Lopez says that GALEO is “an organization very near and dear to my heart.”
During Lopez’s time on the GALEO board, this outfit, among other leftist positions:
Applauded the Fulton County Sheriff for refusing to cooperate with ICE on deportations.Supported Obama’s unlawful executive orders on illegal immigration and amnesty.Opposed Georgia’s voter identification law.Opposed Georgia’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Lopez also took a lead role in slandering opponents of illegal immigration. He researched, wrote, and edited a GALEO White Paper that attacked groups such as the Center for Immigration Studies, claiming that their views are “strikingly similar” to those of “racial separatists.” He singled out one anti-illegal immigration activist in part for saying “there is no universal civil right to live in the United States.”
Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren noted GALEO’s strident lawlessness in his letter opposing Lopez’s nomination. He wrote:
In my 38 years of law enforcement service in Cobb County Georgia, including 11 years as Sheriff, I have never seen an organization work harder against the interest of our state. GALEO has called for law enforcement to turn a blind eye towards criminals that have illegally penetrated our borders and then perpetrated crimes against the very citizens I am sworn to protect.
Third, Lopez likes receiving preferential treatment because of his ethnicity. A vocal supporter of race-based affirmative action for his entire public life, I’m told that he has said his LSAT score was low and he would never have been admitted to Vanderbilt Law School but for the preference he received as a Hispanic.
Fourth, Lopez believes strongly in judicial activism. Speaking about federal judges during the 1960s, Lopez reportedly said:
The simple answer to how these judges became the unsung heroes of the [c]ivil rights movement is that judges have the power not only to talk about change, they can actually ORDER change…and what they did is that through the Courts they provided non violent forum [sic] to address injustice which led to real change, nonviolent revolution. . . .These were the original activist judges, judges that applied all of the law, not just the portions they felt supported their own prejudiced views.
If confirmed, Lopez would almost surely strive to become a “hero” by applying “all of the law” to advance his revolutionary agenda, especially when it comes to illegal immigration.
Senator Perdue will be roundly condemned in the mainstream media and in other liberal circles for standing against Lopez’s confirmation. The Democrats will use this to raise money to try and defeat him when he stands for re-election.
It is important, therefore, that Perdue’s vote be praised by conservative outlets, so that less courageous Senators, and those from less Red states, will feel comfortable standing against hardcore left-wing judicial nominees in the future.
Letters to the Senator from our readers commending, cc-ing other GOP Senators, would also be helpful.
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