FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 February 2013
For More Information: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, President, 919-394-8137
Mrs. Amina J. Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700
The NC NAACP once again urges Senators Burr and Hagan to help put an end to the historic exclusion of African American judges from the US District Court for the Eastern District in North Carolina with the pending appointment by the President. There has never been, in our history, a African American Judge on the bench in US District Court for the Eastern District of NC. The NC NAACP issued a letter to the Senators on October 25, 2011 urging the Senators to do the same. And on January 23, 2013 we wrote a private letter to the Senators, this time requesting a meeting to discuss the issue further. Senator Hagan has responded. However we are respectfully awaiting a response from Senator Burr's office to schedule a meeting. We are now writing Senator Burr publicly with hopes that he will take the time to meet with civil rights leaders representing many of his constituents in NC before any decisions are made.
We look forward to both a response for a meeting and for your efforts to right the historic wrongs when it comes to appointments to the US District Courts in North Carolina.
Yours,
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
cc: Hilary Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau
NC NAACP Legal Team
Enclosed:
Letter Written to the Honorable Richard Burr and Kay Hagan, January 23, 2013
January 23, 2013
Senator Kay Hagan, via Email, Fax, U.S. mail
Senator Richard Burr, via Email, Fax, U.S. mail
Re: Joint Recommendation for the President's Nomination of an African American for the U.S. District Court Judge Vacancy in the 44-county Eastern District of North Carolina.
Dear Senator Hagan and Burr:
The NC Conference of State NAACP Branches has been and continues to be concerned about the absence of an African-American as a judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina. We have addressed each of you previously about this issue. We are painfully aware the present vacancy in this District has existed since 2005 when Judge Malcolm Howard attained senior status. This long-standing vacancy has been described as a "judicial emergency" by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. We agree with that assessment. As you both know, no African-American has ever been appointed as a Judge in this District. This is unacceptable. We ask both of you to commit to changing this disgraceful reality.
Today, more African-Americans live in the Eastern District than in any other federal judicial district within North Carolina. There are many exceptional and well-qualified African-American attorneys and state judges who reside and practice in this District. Because of the historic and intentional exclusion of African-Americans from judgeships in this District, they should now receive priority consideration for appointment to this seat. To begin the process of repairing the ugly history of this exclusion, we respectfully request that you provide President Barack Obama a list of several of these African-Americans with your strong support for him to promptly appoint one of them to the vacant judgeship.
Surely you have seen the benefits of having racial diversity in the Middle District and the State courts in your counties in the Triad. The judicial system and its decisions gains more respect when people perceive that they have a chance of being treated fairly in our courts. In the Eastern District, such beliefs are rare among people of color. This District was the home of most of the large slave plantations during the 250 years of slavery from 1619 to 1865. Most African Americans residing in this District had parents, grandparents, and great grandparents who lived and died under the bitter century of sharecropping and Jim Crow that followed slavery that did not end until the 1960's. Now, in 2013, 50 years after the end of Jim Crow, the Federal Court in the Eastern District has still not experienced an African American Judge. This is shameful!
If it would help, the NAACP would be pleased to provide you with a list of qualified judicial candidates for your consideration. With or without our assistance, we urge you to act promptly to submit such a list for the President's consideration.
We seek to meet with you, jointly or independently, for further discussion.
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
CC: Hillary Shelton, NAACP Legislative Director, Washington Office
Ben Jealous, NAACP President
Members and Friends of the NAACP
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