Supreme Court vacancy watch Day 159: Meet Inga Bernstein, another blockaded nominee
It's Tuesday, July 21, and Day 159 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell laid down his Supreme Court blockade: No meetings, no hearings, no votes on his replacement. It's also Day 122 since President Obama named Merrick Garland to be Scalia's replacement. What's the Senate doing today instead of considering the Supreme Court nominee?
All those Republican senators who decided to skip the convention are undoubtedly patting themselves on the back for not making themselves available to the national media in the midst of this disaster. It won't last. The reverberations of how bad this has been won't go away. They'll get asked. Meanwhile, here's a federal judicial nominee they're keeping off the bench:
President Obama nominated lesbian Inga Bernstein to a U.S. District Court seat for Massachusetts in July of last year. Although Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley didn’t show up for her confirmation hearing April 20, he submitted questions to her in writing, noting that, while she was at Harvard Law, Bernstein “supported a proposed ban on hate speech.” He asked Bernstein whether “hate speech” is protected under the First Amendment and whether she still supports bans on hate speech.Bernstein said that “much” hate speech is protected and that she would follow the precedent of the Supreme Court and the First Circuit, which includes Massachusetts.
Grassley also asked Bernstein what assurances she could offer that her judicial decisions would be grounded in law “rather than any underlying political ideology or motivation or “any personal views.”
She said she was “deeply committed to the rule of law” and was committed to “comporting myself in conformity” with the rule of law as necessary to ensure justice and fairness.
Bernstein is in private practice, an expert in employment law. She was recommended for the appointment by an independent commission in Massachusetts, and enthusiastically endorsed by the state's senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey. Despite the fact that the Republicans on the committee had a major problem with her sexual orientation, they approved her and sent the nomination on to the full Senate. Where it's stalled.
Because Mitch McConnell is refusing to do his job.