The US Senate has confirmed the federal judicial appointment of Alison Nathan, an out lesbian, with no Republican support. She’s the second lesbian to receive a federal lifetime judicial appointment in the US and will join two other currently active gay judges in raining gay rainbow justice all over Real America. Those opposed to her appointment say she’s an “activist,” and is therefore unfit for the bench, but by now we all know that “activist” is Republican code for “homosexual, brown, or female.”
President Obama nominated Nathan to be the next federal district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York six and a half months ago. Before that, Nathan was White House Counsel and employed by the New York solicitor general’s office, and before that, she worked in both the public and private sector, at one point working for Supreme Court Justice JP Stevens.
And after typical legislative lollygagging, her nomination was brought before the Senate earlier this week. What a surprising and convenient coincidence that every single Senate Republican just happened to completely coincidentally vote against her! Even moderate Republicans like Maine’s Susan Collins and Massachusetts’s Scott Brown opposed her nomination. What’re the odds!?
Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions says that his non-support for Nathan had everything to do with a lack of legal experience and nothing to do with the fact that she’s a terrifying family smashing ladykisser. He also claimed that she’d consider foreign laws in her rulings. But Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, disagreed, saying,
As her resume shows, she is an accomplished nominee with significant experience in private practice, academia and government service. Twenty-seven former Supreme Court clerks have written to the Judiciary Committee in support of Ms. Nathan’s qualifications, including clerks who worked for the conservative Justices.
At this point, it’s worth noting that Sessions may have some sour grapes; in 1986, the Senate rejected his appointment to the federal bench.
Senate confirms gay woman as federal judge [WSJ]
Lesbian Jurist Alison Nathan confirmed as Federal Judge Despite GOP Opposition [New Civil Rights Movement]
Image via Sebastian Duda/Shutterstock