Nina Morrison, a lawyer who “spent the last 20 years being the senior litigation counsel at the New York-based Innocence Project, an organization focused on exonerating wrongly convicted people through DNA testing,” was confirmed to a federal judgeship by a 53-46 vote on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 (read story here).
“Every Democrat voted for her, along with three Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.). Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) did not vote,” Huffington Post reported.
During her confirmation hearing, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) “tried to blame Morrison for spikes in violent crimes in cities across America. They pressed her on whether she felt guilty about freeing people from prison who had been convicted of violent crimes, despite the fact that they had all been exonerated by DNA evidence.”
Cruz blamed “skyrocketing crime rates” on “policies you’ve spent your entire lifetime advancing.” (While homicide rates are up, and gang thefts are getting publicity, overall crime rates are actually down.)
“I will oppose you and anyone else the administration sends to us who do not understand the necessity of the rule of law,” Hawley said. (Hawley is most famous for his clenched-fist salute in support of the lawless mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.)
Polls and news reports suggest Democrats are in trouble as the midterms approach. People are upset over inflation, high gas prices, lingering disruptions from the pandemic, homelessness and crime, and a host of other issues getting on people’s nerves, all of which are legitimate concerns. But that doesn’t mean Republican control of Congress would fix these problems.
In fact, Republicans have vowed to use control of Congress to investigate Hunter Biden. How would that make your life better?
What if you, a member of your family, or a friend was wrongly convicted of a serious crime? Do you really want to vote for people who oppose judges reopening such cases to review new and more reliable evidence? Conservatives consistently oppose efforts to exonerate the innocent, and they cheered when vigilante killer Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted.
Yes, there are a lot of frustrations right now. But do you really solve our country’s problems by electing Republicans? Or does that just make things worse?
Photo: GOP Sen. Josh Hawley salutes the rioters attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (read story here).