(SACRAMENTO, CA, 10/06/18) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today decried the full Senate’s confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Earlier today, the Senate voted in favor of his confirmation, despite the concerns of many Americans about allegations of sexual assault on the part of the nominee and after a contentious Judiciary Committee hearing in which he was belligerent, insulting to committee members, overtly partisan, and appeared to make a number of misleading or demonstrably false statements.
In response to Judge Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“Judge Kavanaugh’s past rulings and statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding civil rights, religious freedom and the rights of immigrants — along with his expansive views on presidential powers — would on their own be enough to disqualify him from service on the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court’s decisions have very real consequences in the lives of all Americans. We are concerned that, as a new Supreme Court justice, Judge Kavanaugh will exhibit the same extreme partisanship and lack of veracity and judicial temperament that we have all witnessed in recent days. A justice on the nation’s highest court must be an impartial arbiter of the law, not a vengeful political conspiracy theorist whose truthfulness and neutrality are in doubt.”
He added that CAIR is a nonpartisan organization and will continue to hold elected officials and the nation’s legal system accountable to the Constitution and to universal principles of human rights.
CAIR said it has witnessed an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims, immigrants and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president. The Washington-based civil rights organization has also repeatedly expressed concern about past Islamophobic, anti-immigrant and white supremacist Trump administration policies and appointments.
CAIR California (CAIR-CA) found that there was a marked rise in anti-Muslim bias incidents in the state in 2017, as detailed in the new CAIR-CA Civil Rights Report. CAIR-CA recorded an 8 percent increase in anti-Muslim bias incidents in 2017 compared to 2016.
READ: 2018 CAIR-CA Civil Rights Report
CAIR Sacramento Valley’s Executive Director Basim Elkarra urged community members to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR-SV’s Civil Rights Department at 916-441-6269 or by filing a report at http://bit.ly/cairsvreport.
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
END
CONTACT: CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com
