JCN Press Release

The votes are in, and Elena Kagan will be the next Supreme Court Justice. Here's why conservatives should still feel good about the result. First, despite having 59 Democratic votes in the Senate, Kagan still had the most votes in opposition of any Democratic nominee in history save one: Wheeler Hazard Peckham, who failed to win confirmation in 1894. She beat Justice Sotomayor for this dubious honor by six votes, including senators like Kit Bond and George Voinovich who had voted for President Obama's previous pick and others like Scott Brown and Ben Nelson who were acting on principle and arguably against their political self-interest.

The Judicial Crisis Network today launched a viral campaign to educate and mobilize conservative activists on the questionable record of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan.

President Obama is planning to nominate Elena Kagan to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court later this morning.  Here are some statements from prominent conservative legal experts, professors, and former Supreme Court clerks reacting to the nomination.

Check back here at JCN and a SCOTUSReport for continuing news on the nomination.

Carrie Severino, Chief Counsel, Judicial Crisis Network, former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas:

“President Obama has nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.  Obama wants to pack the court with reliable liberal votes to rubber-stamp an agenda that he knows the American people would not accept.  What better way than to appoint a loyalist from his own Department of Justice with a thin public record to advance his leftist legacy through the Court.

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Today the Judicial Crisis Network (Formerly: The Judicial Confirmation Network/www.judicialnetwork.com) released the following statement by Executive Director Gary Marx in reaction to Governor Christie’s shake up of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

“JCN  congratulates Governor Christie for his principled stand against "business as usual" at the notoriously liberal state supreme court.  As the first Garden State governor to take a stand against the court's longstanding guaranteed-job-security-despite-poor-performance standard,  the Governor has struck a blow for accountability in the state's highest court.

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Today the Judicial Crisis Network (Formerly: The Judicial Confirmation Network/www.judicialnetwork.com) released findings of a new poll in which a majority of Americans expect that President Obama will nominate a Supreme Court justice that will “rubber stamp” his political agenda and they would be less supportive of a nominee to the United States Supreme Court who automatically finds support in the U.S. Constitution for healthcare mandates and government bailouts.

Today the Judicial Crisis Network (Formerly: The Judicial Confirmation Network/www.judicialnetwork.com) added Carrie Severino as the new Chief Counsel and Policy Director. Mrs. Severino will serve as JCN’s chief spokesperson as well as provide legal analysis and strategic guidance. Previously Mrs. Severino served as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and most recently was an Olin/Searle Fellow and a Dean's Visiting Scholar at Georgetown Law Center.

“The addition of Carrie Severino allows JCN to build on our leadership role in the fight to confirm only highly qualified individuals that apply the law fairly to the U.S. Supreme Court and allows JCN to broaden our mission to confront the radical legal and legislative threats facing the country on the state and local level,” said Gary A. Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Crisis Network.

“Reining in the activist judges is an enormous job, but the American people are up to the task, and we at JCN will certainly do our part to defend the Constitution and the Founders’ vision of a fair and impartial judiciary.” said Mrs. Severino.

Mrs. Severino also served as law clerk to Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, cum laude, of Duke University, and holds a Master's degree in Linguistics from Michigan State University.

JCN is expanding its reach via social networking -- follow us on Twitter (@judicialnetwork) and become a Fan on Facebook (Judicial Crisis Network - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Judicial-Crisis-Network/345234251112). JCN’s website: www.judicialnetwork.com

If you would like to schedule an interview with a spokesperson from the Judicial Crisis Network, please contact Megan Erhardt (ext. 136) or Peter Robbio (ext. 116) at 703-683-5004.

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Judicial Crisis Network (Formerly: The Judicial Confirmation Network/www.judicialnetwork.com) in a letter delivered on Thursday, has respectfully asked Justice Maureen O'Connor to withdraw her candidacy for Chief Justice so the current balance of Ohio Supreme Court is preserved.

As it has been reported previously, and noted by Justice O'Connor herself, her candidacy for Chief Justice, if successful, will actually tilt the Supreme Court to the left. Win or lose Governor Strickland will be able to appoint Justice O'Connor's replacement and will undoubtedly appoint a liberal judicial activist to the court.

Statement of Gary A. Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Crisis Network: (Formerly Judicial Confirmation Network)

Just over a year into the new Administration and it has become abundantly clear that defenders of liberty and justice in America have an enormous task at hand. In fact, we face a crisis potentially more threatening than even the current economic crisis.

Friends and supporters of the Judicial Confirmation Network – which led the fight to confirm only highly qualified individuals to the U.S. Supreme Court - have urged the organization to broaden its mission to confront the radical legal and legislative threats facing the country.

We have chosen to accept this new challenge.

MARCH 17, 2009, WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Judicial Confirmation Network (www.judicialnetwork.com) today reacted to President Obama's reported plans to make his first nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals this week, Judge David Hamilton from Indiana:

"Judge Hamilton is no 'moderate,' as the Obama White House is trying to spin him. The fact is, he was vice-president for litigation and a board member of the Indiana chapter of the ACLU, and he appears to have made rulings that show his willingness to bend the law to reach outcomes favored by his ACLU allies, which are inconsistent with the proper role of a judge under our Constitution but which fit the pattern of ruling based upon 'heart' and 'empathy' for certain classes of litigants, which then-candidate Barack Obama said he would be looking for in judges during the campaign. The problem is, judges cannot rule on that basis; their job is to apply the law impartially and not favor certain types of litigants before the court.