In response the revelation today that Donald Trump’s DC Circuit nominee Neomi Rao published a series of extreme writings on issues including date rape, LGBT equality, racial justice and climate change, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement.

“The statements made by Neomi Rao are alarming evidence of her unfitness for the bench. No one who reads these writings can possibly believe that people of color, survivors of sexual assault, and LGBT people can expect an equal hearing in her courtroom. She didn’t just carve out a conservative political position in these writings, she affirmatively attacked the equal dignity of the kinds of people who most need the protections of law that our constitution guarantees.

“To be clear: no rape victim is responsible for their attacker’s actions. It doesn’t matter how someone dresses, which route they take to walk home or how much they drink. The idea that women make ‘a choice’ to be raped by drinking too much is appalling.

“Again and again under the Trump administration, we’ve seen the President nominate judges who turn out to have a long history of extremism on issues related to race, gender and LGBT equality. Neomi Rao stands alongside so many others as nominees whose records make it perfectly clear they shouldn’t be confirmed to lifetime positions on the federal courts. And as with Ryan Bounds, Jeff Mateer and Thomas Farr, the Senate needs to make clear that its constitutional responsibility to ensure equal justice outweighs politics and partisanship.”

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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