根据最近的一项调查,美国总统唐纳德·特朗普提名的上诉法院和地方法院的候选人大多是白人报告进步司法倡导团体正义联盟。
据白宫称,就司法任命而言,这是近代史上最多产的政府之一。在巡回法院中,将案件移交给美国上诉法院的法院中,特朗普任命了大约四分之一的联邦法官。
特朗普曾表示,他选择法官是基于他们对维护法治的承诺,但民权组织担心,他在全国关键司法委员会中由共和党任命的多数席位,将在从节育到2020年政教分离等诸多问题上让时光倒流。
2019年2月5日,布雷特·卡瓦纳夫(右)在约翰·罗伯特、埃琳娜·卡根和尼尔·戈尔苏奇的左右两侧出席唐纳德·特朗普的国情咨文演讲。特朗普任命卡瓦纳夫和戈尔苏奇,巩固了最高法院的保守倾向。
据联邦司法中心(Federal Judicial Center)称,特朗普任命的185名法官已被确认进入联邦法官席,其中包括两名最高法院法官、数十名巡回法院法官和100多名地区法院法官。
根据正义联盟,其中近76%是男性,超过85%是白人。
值得注意的是,特朗普任命布雷特·卡瓦纳夫和尼尔·戈尔苏奇为美国最高法院法官——巩固了美国最高司法机构的保守倾向。自总统就职以来,法院一直支持党派不公平的选区划分、基于性的某些类型的歧视以及特朗普对多数穆斯林国家的旅行禁令。
布鲁金斯学会称,特朗普扭转了巴拉克·奥巴马总统任命非白人法官进入联邦法院的倾向。事实上,根据正义联盟的数据,58%的奥巴马提名者是男性,64%是白人。从百分比来看,特朗普任命的联邦法官中白人比前三届政府都多。
根据正义联盟的报告,特朗普还用他的提名“推翻”了三个巡回上诉法院,使他们获得共和党任命的多数席位。其中一名上诉法官,史蒂文·梅纳希,一名白人,在2019年秋季因他在达特茅斯大学读书时谴责性侵犯抗议和男女同性恋、双性恋和变性者权利团体的一些作品而面临批评。
根据正义联盟的说法,特朗普任命的其他人为使用酷刑辩护,指责性侵犯受害者自己发动袭击,并在就职前侵蚀环境保护。
梅纳希主持的第二巡回赛没有立即回应记者的置评请求,但梅纳希表示,他对自己过去的一些作品感到遗憾。白宫也没有立即回复通过电子邮件要求置评的请求。
TRUMP JUDICIAL NOMINEES ARE 85 PERCENT WHITE AND 76 PERCENT MEN, REPORT SHOWS
U.S. President Donald Trump's nominees to appellate and district courts are mostly white men, according to a recent report by the progressive judicial advocacy group the Alliance for Justice.
It has been one of the most prolific administrations in terms of judicial appointments in recent history, according to the White House. Among circuit courts, those which refer cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Trump has appointed about one in four federal judges.
Trump has said he selects judges based on their commitment to upholding the rule of law, but civil rights groups fear his Republican-appointed majorities on key judicial panels across the country will turn back the clock on issues ranging from birth control to separation of church and state in 2020.
Brett Kavanaugh, right, flanked by, from left, John Roberts, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch attend Donald Trump's at State of the Union address on February 5, 2019. Trump appointed Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, cementing the conservative tilt of the Supreme Court.
According to the Federal Judicial Center, 185 Trump-appointed judges have been confirmed to the federal bench, including two Supreme Court justices, dozens of Circuit Court judges and more than 100 District Court judges.
According to Alliance for Justice, nearly 76 percent of them are men, and more than 85 percent are white.
Notably, Trump appointed two white men, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, to the U.S. Supreme Court—cementing the conservative tilt of the country's highest judiciary body. Since the president took office, the court has upheld partisan gerrymandering, certain types of discrimination based on sexuality and Trump's travel ban on majority-Muslim countries.
According to the Brookings Institution, Trump has reversed President Barack Obama's tendency to appoint judges who are not white men to the federal courts. Indeed, 58 percent of Obama's nominees were male, and 64 percent were white, according to Alliance for Justice. Percentage-wise, Trump has appointed more white men to the federal bench than the previous three administrations.
Trump also "flipped" three circuit courts of appeals with his nominations, rendering them GOP-appointed majorities, according to the Alliance for Justice report. One of those appellate judges, Steven Menashi, a white man, faced criticism in the fall of 2019 for some of his writings as a student at Dartmouth that denounced sexual assault protests and LGBTQ rights groups.
Other Trump appointees have defended the use of torture, blamed sexual assault victims for their own attacks and eroded environmental protections before wearing into their posts, according to Alliance for Justice.
The 2nd Circuit, on which Menashi presides, did not immediately respond to calls requesting comment, but Menashi has said he regrets some of his past writings. The White House also did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.