Skip to main content
Image
Charlotte NC

Adams, NC NAACP President Oppose Confirmation of Thomas Farr

January 18, 2018

Washington, D.C.—Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) attended the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting today to express her strong opposition to the confirmation of Thomas Farr to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Prior to today's meeting, the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein strongly opposing the nomination.

The seat Mr. Farr was nominated for represented the longest judicial vacancy in the country and, in recent years, has been twice denied to qualified nominees who are women of color. These nominees included Jennifer May-Parker, the chief of the Appellate Division at the U.S. Attorney's Office, in 2013 and Patricia Simmons Goodson, former North Carolina Supreme Court justice and vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in 2016. Either woman would have been the first African American to serve as a federal judge in North Carolina's Eastern District. The Judiciary Committee confirmed Mr. Farr with a vote of 11-10, allowing his nomination to proceed before the full Senate body.

"From his role in the Helms Campaign that sought to disenfranchise minority voters to his hand in drafting unconstitutional voter ID legislation and defending gerrymandered congressional districts that targeted African-American voters ‘with almost surgical precision', Mr. Farr has proven that he cannot be trusted to uphold critical legal rights and protections," said Congresswoman Adams.

"Mr. Farr's nomination is another tragic example of the racism that permeates President Trump's actions and animates his policies. Instead of uniting Americans in common cause, the President has constantly shown that he aspires to represent only the most bigoted and divisive members of his base. By nominating Thomas Farr, the President has once again illustrated that he believes only certain Americans deserve equal protection and just treatment under the law. I fervently oppose Mr. Farr's lifetime appointment to the Federal Bench and ask members of the U.S. Senate to do the same."

North Carolina NAACP president Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman also voiced his concern for the nomination and confirmation of Mr. Farr.

"This seat was left vacant for more than a decade in a district which contains counties with the highest percentages of African American residents in North Carolina. It would seem equitable to nominate someone who would serve with fairness, usher in accessibility, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness. That's what a modern civil justice system offers. But this nomination has none of those things in mind. Rather, the intent of this nomination is tantamount to that of a hacker whose intent is to gain unauthorized access to your computer and wipe out all the data. The intent behind the nomination of the Jessie Helms enthusiast, Thomas Farr is to wipe out the minority population in the Eastern District and the North Carolina NAACP vehemently opposes this nomination," said Dr. Spearman.