FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AWHO JUDGES THE JUDGES?” A Town Hall Meeting on Selection of Federal Judges
MAY 18, 2002, at 3pm [note new time]
Contact:
Atty. Arthur Heitzer, National Lawyers Guild, 414-273-1040
Atty. Henry Hamilton III, NAACP, 414-871‑1000
On Saturday, May 18, 2002, at 3:00 p.m., Milwaukeeans concerned about the fate of the federal court system will hold a Town Hall Meeting to discuss AWHO JUDGES THE JUDGES?@ The meeting will be held at the office of the NAACP Milwaukee Branch, 3500 N. 26th St. (corner of 26th & Keefe by Hopkins). The event will feature Judge Louis Butler, newly elected to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, and Nan Aron from the Judicial Selection Project in Washington, D.C., as well as other lawyers and lay persons concerned with preserving a fair and independent judiciary. The event is free & open to the public.
After the Supreme Court's controversial intervention to stop the recounting of ballots in the 2000 presidential election and the attacks of September 11th, the role of the courts in protecting our rights and freedoms is more important than ever before. President Bush and the Senate majority have sharp differences regarding what kind of people deserve lifetime appointments to interpret the law and to judge the rest of us.
Wisconsin is the only state which has both its U.S. Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee evaluates nominees for every federal judgeship - from the U.S. Supreme Court to federal District Courts in Wisconsin and other states - before they may begin their lifetime appointments. The vote of a majority of Judiciary Committee members can prevent an unqualified or extremist candidate from being confirmed as a federal judge.
The Town Hall Meeting is designed to give people in our diverse communities an opportunity to tell Wisconsin=s Senators what we expect of nominees to the federal courts, and to help us learn about the selection process and how to influence it.
Both Sen. Kohl and Sen. Feingold have been invited to hear the views from representatives of key constituencies. Panel members will include Judge Louis Butler, who recently made history by becoming the first African-American judge elected to the Milwaukee Circuit Court in a contested election; Marquette University Law School Professor Gordon Hylton, an expert in the history of the courts; and Nan Aron, Washington, D.C., President of the Alliance for Justice and founder of its Judicial Selection Project, and a veteran of the battles over Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. The AFJ investigates judicial nominations at all levels of the federal branch, and encourages public participation in the confirmation process; it has an extensive data base on the members and composition of the federal judiciary, at www.afj.org.
Additional panelists will include and John Goldstein or Sheila Cochran, from the Milwaukee County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Francisco Araiza, President of the Wis. Hispanic Lawyers Assn.; and Brenda Lewison, an employment discrimination attorney who is active in the LGBT community.
The public is invited to listen and speak on this important topic.
Co-sponsors of the Town Hall Meeting include: Milwaukee Branch - NAACP; ACLU‑Wisconsin; Milwaukee County Labor Council, AFL‑CIO; National Lawyers Guild ‑ Milwaukee Chapter; National Organization for Women ‑ Milwaukee; Wisconsin Council of Senior Citizens; and the Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace. For more information call (414) 273-1040.
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