Letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee: NCJW Opposes Wilson for Fifth Circuit Court

May 14, 2020
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Committee Members:

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) writes to express its strong opposition to the nomination of Cory Wilson to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Wilson has proven himself to be a biased ideologue who is wholly unfit to serve a lifetime appointment as a federal judge.

Wilson’s lack of judicial temperament is astounding. He frequently takes to Twitter to repeat partisan rhetoric; he has called US Congresswomen a “claptrap,” complained about “Crooked Hillary,” and repeatedly disparaged President Obama, referring to him as “King Barack,” “the Anointed One,” and “a radical leftist with no experience in governing.”

Likewise, Wilson’s many published writings are proof positive that he would use a seat on the federal bench to further his own political agenda. In one editorial, he bemoaned the “federal court [that] ridiculously ruled that ‘One Nation Under G-d’ violated the Constitution” and said that “[h]opefully the [Supreme] Court will overturn Obama” with regard to the Affordable Care Act. In another lengthy political musing, he called Roe v. Wade the “result of a liberal activist court.” In yet another, Wilson lauded Mississippi’s Voter ID law and expressed hope that the “Obama Justice Department will stop suing long enough for us to implement it.” A federal judicial nominee flippantly revealing that he is annoyed by important civil rights cases does not bode well for the future of our court system. Wilson clearly lacks a judicial temperament, as well as respect for the necessary independence of the judiciary.

As if Wilson’s disrespectful and insensitive public statements were not sufficiently disqualifying, his legislative record reveals an extreme partisan agenda. As a state legislator, he voted for a severely restrictive “heartbeat bill” that would ban abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy. He voted to defund Planned Parenthood and support a myriad of other offensive, unconstitutional anti-abortion policies. Wilson has demonstrated complete disdain for LGBTQ people; he voted for a bill that would allow public and private businesses to legally refuse service to LGBTQ people based on the owner’s religious belief. Wilson voted to authorize concealed carry of firearms on any public property as well as carry of firearms in places of worship. Like his writings and Tweets, Wilson’s legislative record is dangerous and out of the mainstream.

Lifetime seats on our nation’s judiciary must be reserved for open-minded, independent jurists free from bias and without an agenda. For the sake of the judiciary’s independence, as well as this institution’s integrity, we strongly urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose Wilson’s confirmation to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sincerely,

Jody Rabhan

Chief Policy Officer
National Council of Jewish Women