Durbin Statement Regarding Jeffrey Sutton

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin made the following statement today in response to the Senate's confirmation of Jeffrey Sutton for a lifetime appointment to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals:

"In the cases that he has taken and the legal arguments that he has advanced, Jeffrey Sutton has shown a consistent pattern of insensitivity to civil rights, human rights, and the rights of minorities, women, and the disabled in America.

"Time and again he has asked the federal courts to remove the authority of Congress to create laws involving individual rights and liberties and to give compensation to those who have been wronged.

"That is the hallmark of his legal career. That is who Jeffrey Sutton is. And given a lifetime appointment to this bench on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, we can predict with some degree of certainty he will continue in his quest to try to deny those coming before the court the right for a day in court if they happen to be disabled, victims of age discrimination, or victims of civil rights discrimination.

"It was finally after Brown vs. Board of Education that, as Senator Humphrey once said, we came out of the shadow of civil rights into the bright sunshine of human rights. Jeffrey Sutton has never come out from under that shadow. In fact, he has made a legal career of extending that shadow over more and more Americans so that they would have less likelihood of prevailing when they are discriminated against.

"Mr. Sutton has been front and center in some of the most important Supreme Court cases of our generation. He personally argued five of the most significant cases in the past decade before the Supreme Court. That attests to his legal skills, but it certainly speaks volumes, as well, as to what is in his heart, what he believes, and where he would stand as a judge if confronted with similar issues. And in every one of those cases, Jeffrey Sutton asked the Supreme Court to restrict the rights of the disabled, women, the elderly, the poor, and racial and ethnic minorities. He is consistent. And from my point of view, consistently wrong.

"It is a shame that a majority of my colleagues made the choice today to look the other way and confirm Jeffrey Sutton for a lifetime appointment."