Protect the Right to Vote: Be a Poll Worker on Election Day Sign Up Today

Legislative Letters

Re: Oppose the judicial nomination of Stuart Kyle Duncan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Apr 23, 2018

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 Stuart Kyle Duncan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. LCV is committed to racial justice and equity, and Duncan has a disturbing professional record challenging the rights of communities of color and immigrants. For example, he was one of the attorneys who unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Court to uphold North Carolina’s restrictive and discriminatory voter identification law after the Fourth Circuit said in North Carolina v. N.C. State Conf. of NAACP that the law targeted African American voters “with almost surgical precision.”

Further, Duncan filed an amicus brief against President Obama’s Executive Order that established the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. He challenged the order by arguing that “[m]any violent criminals would likely be eligible to receive deferred action under DAPA’s inadequate standards.” Such language reinforces a harmful and inaccurate stereotype about immigrants.

For these reasons, LCV strongly urges you to oppose the judicial nomination of Stuart Kyle Duncan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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