With a vote on Janice Rogers Brown’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit expected as early as next week, brace yourself for accusations that those who oppose the nomination of Brown, an African-American woman, are racist or sexist. Wait, you say—aren’t groups dedicated to defending the rights of women and African-Americans among the many who oppose Brown’s nomination? And don’t they base their opposition on the hostility that Brown has demonstrated towards basic principles of women’s rights and civil rights?
Well, yes, but those pesky facts have not stopped Brown’s supporters from making the charge all the same. Just last month Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) said that opposing Brown and Priscilla Owen risks “reversing decades of progress for all females,” and Senator Hatch has called it a “slap in the face” to American women to block these nominees.
The charge that Brown’s opponents are anti-women or anti-African American echoes the accusations by some members of Congress that those who opposed the nomination of William Pryor to the 11th Circuit were anti-Catholic because Pryor is Catholic. Ironically, the frequent target of these ridiculous accusations—Senator Leahy of Vermont—is Catholic himself.
Of course, increased diversity among federal judges is an important goal. However, the result of confirming a judge like Brown—who thinks preventing sexual harassment in the workplace violates the First Amendment and that prosecutors should be able to discriminate against African-American women in jury selection—would be to roll back rights that women and racial minorities have fought long to achieve. And it’s that result which would be truly “anti-women.”
You can find the prepared text of a speech that Marcia Greenberger gave on this topic in late May here.
