Dear Senator,

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) works to turn environmental values into national, state and local priorities. Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of members of Congress on environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the media.

We urge you to oppose the judicial nomination of Judge Britt Grant to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. As Solicitor General of Georgia, she has sought to weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In Bldg. Indus. Ass’n of the Bay Area v. Dep’t of Commerce, 792 F.3d 1027 (9th Cir. 2015), the court upheld the designation of sturgeon habitats. She helped with an amicus brief contending the “Ninth Circuit’s decision declaring certain critical habitat decisions immune from judicial review threatens to undermine the important cost-benefit analysis Congress built into the Endangered Species Act.” And in Alaska Oil & Gas Ass’n v. Jewell, 815 F.3d 544 (9th Cir. 2016), the court held that designated critical habitat for polar bear denning was not overly broad. Again, Grant joined an amicus brief stating the “Ninth’s Circuit’s expansive reading [of the ESA] will impose significant costs on the States while doing little to nothing to conserve threatened and endangered species.” The ESA is one of our country’s most successful conservation efforts, and Grant’s support of industry efforts to weaken the ESA is disturbing for someone seeking a lifetime appointment.

LCV is committed to racial justice and equity, and Grant’s career has a troubling association with attacks on voting rights and immigrants. Grant contributed to an amicus brief in support of Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), which gutted the Voting Rights Act. She also joined an amicus brief in support of documentary proof of citizenship as a voter registration requirement in the case Kobach v. U.S. Election Assistance Comm’n & Project Vote, Inc., 722 F.3d 1183 (10th Cir. 2014). Further, Grant was part of amicus briefs in U.S. v. Texas, 136 S. Ct. 2271 (2016) that succeeded in getting a nationwide injunction against the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) initiative and in defending that injunction before the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

For these reasons, LCV strongly urges you to oppose the judicial nomination of Judge Britt Grant to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. We will consider including this confirmation vote in the 2018 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call my office at (202) 785-8683 and ask to speak with a member of our government relations team.

Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski

President