Democratic Members Of Senate Judiciary Committee Announce
Witness List For Hearings On Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts
Jr.
WASHINGTON (Friday, Sept. 2) –
Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
Friday announced their witness list for the upcoming hearings on
Supreme Court nominee John Roberts Jr. The hearings, which
begin on Tuesday, Sept. 6th, will include a number of days of
testimony by Judge Roberts as well as testimony from witness
panels on the relevant issues surrounding Judge Roberts’s
nomination.
Below is a list of Democratic witnesses, consisting of national
leaders and courageous Americans who represent many of the vital
issues facing the nation today, including civil rights, women’s
and disability rights, Americans’ right to privacy, and the
importance of an open government that serves the interests of
the American people. Three witnesses yet to be confirmed will
be released at a later date.
Carol Browner, Former Administrator, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), 1993-2001
Carol Browner is the longest serving administrator in the
history of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She
received the
appointment from President Bill Clinton in January 1993, and was
unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. During her tenure, she
partnered with business leaders, community advocates, and all
levels of government heads to promote common sense,
cost-effective solutions
to the nation's most pressing environmental and public health
challenges. She successfully built broad bipartisan support in
Congress to pass two pivotal modern environmental laws - the
landmark Food Quality Protection Act and the Safe Drinking Water
Act. Browner knows environmental regulation both from the
Washington and state perspective. From 1991 to 1993, Browner was
Secretary of Florida's Department of Environmental Regulation,
one of the nation's largest state environmental agencies. She
won praise for dealing effectively with difficult issues
involving wetland protection, hazardous waste disposal, and
Everglades cleanup. Browner is currently a partner at The
Albright Group in Washington, DC.
John Dean, Former White House Counsel
Before becoming Counsel to the President of the United States in
July 1970 at 31, John Dean was the Chief Minority Counsel to the
Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of
Representatives, the Associate Director of the National
Commission on Reform of the Federal Criminal Laws, and an
Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He
served as Richard Nixon's White House lawyer for 1,000 days.
This, in turn, lead to his becoming the key witness before the
Senate Select Committee Presidential Campaign Activities (the
Senate Watergate Committee), as well as a lead witness for the
government in the principal prosecutions undertaken by the
Watergate Special Prosecution Force. After recently retiring
from a successful career as a private investment banker (mergers
and acquisitions), Dean returned to writing and lecturing.
Since November 2000, he has written a regular column on law and
politics for the on-line site FindLaw and currently he is at
work on his seventh book. For the past three years John Dean
has also been a visiting scholar at the Annenberg School of
Communications at the University of Southern California.
Marcia Greenberger, President, National Women’s Law Center
Marcia Greenberger is the founder and Co-President of the
National Women’s Law Center. The creation of the Center 30
years ago established her as the first full-time women’s rights
legal advocate in Washington, DC. A recognized expert on gender
discrimination and the law, Greenberger has participated in the
development of key legislative initiatives and litigation
protecting women’s rights.
Wade Henderson, Executive Director, Leadership Conference on
Civil Rights
The
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) is the nation’s
premier civil and human rights coalition. Established in 1950,
the LCCR was created to promote the passage and implementing of
civil rights laws designed to end discrimination and achieve
equal opportunity for all Americans. The LCCR — which includes
over 180 national organizations — has coordinated the national
legislative campaign on behalf of every major civil rights law
since 1957. Mr. Henderson is well known for his expertise on a
wide range of civil rights, civil liberties and human rights
issues. Prior to his role with the LCCR, Mr. Henderson was the
Washington Bureau Director of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Coach Roderick Jackson, Birmingham, Ala.
Roderick Jackson is a teacher and the Acting Head Coach of the
girls’ basketball team at Ensley High School in Birmingham, Ala.
After complaining to school officials about the tremendous
disparity in resources and treatment between the girls’ and
boys’ basketball teams, Coach Jackson was fired. Coach Jackson
went to court to get his job back, and appealed all the way to
the Supreme Court. In March, 2005, the Supreme Court decided
the case in Coach Jackson’s favor. In a 5-4 decision in which
Justice O’Connor wrote the majority opinion, the Court ruled
that an individual can sue under Title IX to challenge
retaliation against him or her for protesting sex
discrimination. In its decision, the Court recognized that
prohibiting retaliation is essential if Title IX — or any broad
anti-discrimination law — is to provide effective protection
against discrimination, and stated that the Title IX enforcement
scheme would “unravel” if Jackson were not allowed to proceed.
Beverly Jones, Lafayette, Tenn.
Beverly Jones — a plaintiff in
Tennessee vs. Lane and Jones
— was confined to a wheelchair after an accident. Jones, a
court reporter, sued under the Americans for Disability Act for
equal access for people with disabilities to the courthouses in
Tennessee. In a 5-4 decision, with Justice O’Connor casting the
deciding vote, the Supreme Court upheld Title II of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring that Jones and other
persons with disabilities have equal opportunities in our
society.
Judge Nathaniel Jones, 6th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Retired
Judge Nathaniel Jones, one of the nation’s most prominent
African American judges and a longtime civil rights advocate,
served on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from 1979 to
2002. Prior to his appointment to the court, Judge Jones served
as general counsel of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, where he directed the national
response to attacks against affirmative action, led an inquiry
into discrimination against black service men in the military
and supervised the NAACP’s defense in the Mississippi boycott
case that led to the landmark Supreme Court decision that gave
individuals and organizations the right to engage in protests
under the First Amendment. Judge Jones also served as assistant
general counsel to President Lyndon Johnson’s National Advisory
Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Commission) which studied
the causes of urban riots in the 1960s. Today, Judge Jones is a
senior partner at Blank Rome LLP in Cincinnati, OH.
Congressman John Lewis, (D-Ga.)
Congressman Lewis is often called “one of the most courageous
persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced.” During the
height of the civil rights movement — from 1963 to 1966 — Lewis
was named Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee, which was largely responsible for organizing student
activism toward equal rights. After being named one of the Big
Six leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, Lewis organized voter
registration drives and community action programs during the
Mississippi Freedom Summer, and helped spearhead the historic
march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. in 1965,
which helped expedite the passage of the Voting Rights Act that
same year. After holding a number of elected and appointed
positions, Congressman Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986,
where he has continued his fight for equal rights.
Karen Pearl, Interim President, Planned Parenthood
Karen Pearl has 30 years of experience in education and
non-profit management as well as a background in counseling and
health care.
Throughout her career, Pearl has worked to preserve women’s
rights and advocated for better access to health care for women.
In her role with Planned Parenthood she has strived to create
more opportunity for those most in need. As head of the Planned
Parenthood of Nassau County, Pearl oversaw the addition of
primary care services and the opening of a new health center.
Pearl began her career as a preschool teacher, working with
children with disabilities.
Anne Marie Tallman, President and General Counsel, Mexican
American Legal Defense and Education Fund
A granddaughter of Mexican migrant workers and the first in her
family to attend college, Anne Marie Tallman was elected
President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) in 2004, after serving as an
executive with the mortgage lending company Fannie Mae. MALDEF’s
mission is to protect and promote the civil rights of the 40
million Latinos living in the United States. Tallman also
served as the president and CEO of the non-profit Fannie Mae
Foundation in Washington. While in this position, she launched
the Hispanic Heritage Award Foundation’s Youth Awards, which in
just six years awarded $1.1 million in scholarships to more than
400 students in 12 cities. Before joining Fannie Mae, Tallman
was Deputy Director for both the City and County of Denver, in
charge of the Planning and Community Development Agency. There,
she advised Mayor Webb on housing and community development
issues impacting Latino and African-American communities.
Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite,
Ph.D., Professor of Theology & President,
Chicago Theological Seminary
Susan Brooks Thistlewaite, Ph.D. currently serves as the 11th
President of the Chicago Theological Seminary. She was professor
of theology at CTS for 16 years, director of the Ph.D. center
for five years; has a Ph.D. from Duke University, a Master of
Divinity (Summa Cum Laude) from Duke Divinity School and a B.A.
from Smith College. Chicago Theological Seminary, a seminary of
the United Church of Christ, serves Christ and the churches and
the wider faith community by preparing women and men in the
understandings and skills needed for religious leadership and
ministry to individuals, churches and society. Dr. Thistlewaite
has authored numerous writings and sermons on religion and
society. An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ
since 1974, she is the author or editor of 10 books and has been
a translator for two different translations of the Bible. Her
works include one of the most widely used textbooks in the U.S.
to teach theology, the 10th anniversary edition of Lift Every
Voice: Constructing Christian Theologies from the Underside.
Reginald Turner,
President, National Bar Association
Reginald Turner was sworn in as the 63rd President of the
National Bar Association (NBA) on Aug. 5, 2005. Turner has more
than 15 years of experience in labor and employment law and
governmental relations, is Past President of the State Bar of
Michigan and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation — an honor
reserved to less than 1 percent of lawyers in each state.
Turner often engages in pro bono representation in important
civil rights and civil liberties cases. He was one of the lead
counsels in the affirmative action case in involving the
University of Michigan where he represented a coalition of civil
rights organizations known as Citizens for Affirmative Action’s
Preservation, and 17 African American and Latino students. The
NBA is the largest and oldest organization of attorneys and
judges of color in the world. Founded in 1925, the NBA
represents over 18,000 lawyers, judges, educators and law
students.
# #
# # #
CONTACT: Tracy Schmaler, 202-224-2154
David Carle, 202-224-3693
