Posted on 03/06/2014 1:56:23 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said Wednesday's rejection of a nominee for the Justice Department revealed a racial "double standard."
Harkin said the Republican opposition to Debo Adegbile, President Obama's choice to lead Justice's Civil Rights division, was hypocritical, given their support for Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who had defended convicted criminals before joining the bench.
“Here is the message we sent today: if you’re a young white person and you go to work for a law firm, you’re a lawyer sworn into the bar … and a law firm assigns you to defend a person who killed eight people in cold blood … you might wind up to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court."
"However, if you are a young black person and you go to work for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and they assign you to appeal a case of someone who committed a heinous murder … the message sent today is don’t do it … if you keep your legal obligations with your profession you will be denied the opportunity to be an assistant Attorney General.
“Shame on this Senate,” Harkin said. “We have a terrible double standard.”
The nomination of Adegbil, who is black, was rejected in a 47-52 vote. Seven Democrats broke ranks to oppose his nomination.
Republicans argued Adegbile was “unfit to serve” because of his legal work in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted in 1981 of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.
Adegbile was the director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) when it worked to commute Abu-Jamal’s death sentence. Faulkner’s widow, the Fraternal Order of Police and Republicans argued this should disqualify him from the Justice job, while supporters warned a rejection would set a dangerous precedent of punishing lawyers for doing their jobs.
Obama called the vote against Adegbile a "travesty," and accused lawmakers of succumbing to "wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant."
"The fact that his nomination was defeated solely based on his legal representation of a defendant runs contrary to a fundamental principle of our system of justice — and those who voted against his nomination denied the American people an outstanding public servant," Obama said.
Harkin said Adegbile's work on the Abu-Jamal case was irrelevant to his nomination.
“The Supreme Court Justice defended someone who committed mass murder,” Harkin said. “Did we here one peep from the [Republican] side? No … and rightfully so. It should never have been an issue.”
Seems as if Harkin could have starred in Michael Moore's film about Cuban health care! (LOL!!!)
Yes, but they see the bias against American Indians. That's because some of those signals display a red-colored hand, recalling the detested name REDSKINS. (LOL!)
Harkin and Moore: One lies and the other swears to it.
Not to mention, the raised hand is probably meant to represent “How”.
With what he is trying, Tom Harkin is proving what he is. Mr. Debo Adegbile is a scumbucket who tried to achieve noteriety by defending a slob, Mumia Abu Jamal who stood over a downed policeman he had shot and shot him in the face. He knowingly represented Mumia who is a piece of crap just trying to fight being executed. A man so twisted that he would try to get such a goofball off should not be rewarded with a position in the Department of Justice. Come on people, look at what Harkin is trying to pull off. He wants us to overlook what Adegbile has done to put him in this position. Harkin is like the scum you scrape from a sewer pipe!
Coons’ vote surprises me. He’s not very vulnerable in Delaware.
Every time a multi-term legislator retires or dies, an angel gets its wings.
“When corporations decide where to build chemical plants, landfills, or water treatment plants where chemicals leach, they most often choose NOT TO BUILD THEM.” But low income communities and communities of color grow up around existing plants, because the rent is cheaper there, and there are jobs to be had there, provided it’s not a union shop.
Fixed.
So, anyway, why were they so hot to reject this Adegbil fellow? Was it just because he represented an unpopular defendant? Somebody please tell me. I’m stuck on “he’s an Obama appointee, so therefore he has to be bad,” but I’m curious as to what the stated reason was.
The Mumia lawyers made up stories about the dead cop.
He was just doing his sacred duty as a member of the bar. He had to slander his client’s victim to the media, and even suborn perjury if necessary./sarc
“The decades-long public campaign by others, however, to elevate a heinous, cold-blooded killer to the status of a political prisoner and folk hero has caused tremendous pain to the widow of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and shown great disrespect for law enforcement officers and families throughout our region.
http://www.coons.senate.gov/newsroom/releases/release/statement-from-senator-coons-on-vote-on-nomination-of-debo-adegbile
Senator Chris Coons
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