ACLU Responds To Senator Sessions' Remarks About "ACLU DNA" In Obama Judicial Nominees

Good Gene Pool, Says Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

WASHINGTON– Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) today expressed his concern to members of Congress that some of President Obama’s judicial nominees have American Civil Liberties Union affiliations and exhibit an “ACLU chromosome.”

The following can be attributed to Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“Senator Sessions’ reference to ‘ACLU DNA’ in President Obama’s judicial nominees should be greeted as a welcome discovery by all Americans, regardless of party. For 90 years, the ACLU has defended the rights enshrined in the Constitution for everyone, regardless of their political beliefs. While not everyone agrees with us on every issue, Americans have come to rely on the ACLU for its unyielding dedication to principle.

“There is a long record of highly respected ACLU-affiliated lawyers who have been appointed to the federal bench, including luminaries such as Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall, Felix Frankfurter, Arthur Goldberg and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All have demonstrated their dedication to the Bill of Rights in important decisions supporting freedom of speech, the right to due process and gender and racial equality. There are also dozens of highly regarded district court and appellate court judges who have served or serve now on federal benches throughout the nation. Their ACLU background has helped them bring to the judicial system a steadfast commitment to constitutional values and an understanding of the critical role that the judiciary plays in safeguarding them.

“If you ask us, ACLU chromosomes make for a pretty remarkable gene pool.”