FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2007

Contact: Marshall Wittmann, 202-224-4041

Lieberman Statement on Southwick Confirmation Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today issued the following statement on his vote to confirm Judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit:

"Today I voted to confirm Judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Southwick served honorably on the Mississippi Court of Appeals for nearly 12 years, the American Bar Association has twice rated him 'well qualified' to serve on the federal bench and the Senate Judiciary Committee has twice voted out his nomination favorably, the first time by a unanimous vote just last year.

"Opponents of Judge Southwick's nomination point to two decisions out of the more than 6,500 opinions that he opined on over the course of his tenure on the bench to assert that Judge Southwick said it was acceptable to use a racial epitaph in the workplace and that gay and lesbian Americans are not fit to be parents. Had Judge Southwick said either, I would conclude that he was not fit for the federal bench. But I have read those two opinions, neither of which Judge Southwick wrote himself, and concluded that that is not what they stand for. In each case, Judge Southwick did his job as an appellate judge. He reviewed the application of the law to the facts under the relevant standard of judicial review to determine whether the lower court and agencies had erred.

"As a Senator, I take my advice and consent duties very seriously and will not vote to confirm nominees who are not qualified or who demonstrate a judicial philosophy hostile to the rights afforded by the Constitution. Judge Southwick is qualified to be a judge on the Fifth Circuit and has not exhibited a judicial philosophy that would lead him to undermine those rights."