Statement by African American Ministers in Action Chair Rev. Tim McDonald

In the days following President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court, the right-wing has hurled false, partisan-fueled attacks of incompetence and “reverse racism,” as they strategize on how to oppose a nominee with more federal judicial experience than anyone currently serving on the Court. In response to President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sotomayor, and the false right-wing attacks, Rev. Timothy McDonald, chair of African American Ministers in Action and pastor of First Iconium BaptistChurch in Atlanta, issued the following statement:

“President Obama has made a superb choice by nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his first nominee to the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor is a qualified and fair-minded jurist who would bring to the Court nearly two decades of federal judiciary experience — she’ll bring more experience on the federal bench to the Supreme Court than anyone confirmed to the job in the last hundred years. She has an inspiring personal story, and she’ll bring an important new perspective to our highest court.

“It is hardly surprising that the right-wing would cherry pick comments to paint Judge Sotomayor to be a ‘racist’ — an outrageous charge by the GOP’s leaders, Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh. Yet we know that those false attacks will do nothing to diminish Judge Sotomayor’s fine record on the bench. Judge Sotomayor is a first-rate nominee for the Supreme Court, and we hope that the full Senate moves forward to confirm her well before the start of the next term.”

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