| Dear Katy, Thomas Farr became an expert in suppressing Black votes as the protege of notorious racist Sen. Jesse Helms and spent decades developing close ties to one of the most despicable white supremacist organizations in the United States.1 Now Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell want to give Farr a lifetime appointment as a federal judge.2 We cannot let the Senate confirm Farr without a fight. Every voice in opposition to putting a racist like Farr on the federal bench helps illuminate Republican leaders' open embrace of white nationalists and voter suppression. Tell the Senate: Reject racist judge Thomas Farr. Click here to sign the petition. The Rev. Dr. William Barber, leader of the Moral Mondays Movement and the Poor People's campaign, declared that Farr is unfit to be a federal judge because of his "long record as an advocate for hyper-partisan, segregationist causes."3 In fact, nearly every civil rights organization has lined up to oppose Farr. Farr's record shows a judge only Donald Trump could love. He:4 - Helped draft and defend a 2013 North Carolina's 2013 voter ID law that a federal court struck down because it targeted black voters "with almost surgical precision"
- Has close ties to the Pioneer Fund, a hate group "established to use science to pursue the goals of its founder: the preservation of white supremacy and white racial purity from the threat posed by blacks and undesirable immigrants, especially Jews," which was one of the major funders of the fight in the South against the Civil Rights Movement
- Spent years working alongside Thomas Ellis, a strident segregationist and racist who built a political network to maintain white supremacy
- May have lied about his role in illegal voter suppression efforts while working on the campaigns of unrepentant racist Sen. Jesse Helms
- Continues to praise his mentor Helms, despite Helms' refusal to apologize for opposing civil rights and his fights to keep Black judges off of the federal courts
Racism. Voter suppression. Eugenics. It's all there in Thomas Farr's friends, clients and mentors. This man has no place on the federal bench. Mitch McConnell is determined to ram through as many right-wing judges as possible before the end of the year. All 49 Democratic Senators oppose Farr and Sen. Jeff Flake has said he will refuse to vote for any judicial nominees until there is a Senate vote to protect the Mueller investigation. McConnell has to hold every other Republican vote to get Farr confirmed. We must raise our voices now to show Republicans we are paying attention and to demand they vote no on this racist judge. Tell the Senate: Reject racist judge Thomas Farr. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/reject_farr?t=7&akid=30727%2E12967895%2E0HPgZA Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Alex Amend, "From eugenics to voter ID laws: Thomas Farr's connections to the Pioneer Fund," The Southern Poverty Law Center, Dec. 4, 2017.
- Jordain Carney, "Senate barrels toward showdown over Trump's court picks," The Hill, Nov. 18, 2018.
- Amend, "From eugenics to voter ID laws: Thomas Farr's connections to the Pioneer Fund."
- Ibid.
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