1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you to oppose the nomination of Joshua Dunlap to the First Circuit Court of Appeals following his nomination in July. He’s yet another example of an extremist dedicated only to eroding civil rights and undermining the whole judicial process of equal justice. His record speaks for itself, and is disqualifying: 1. He’s consistently shielded powerful interests from accountability like pharmaceutical companies and trying to weaken consumer protections. 2. His views of the law on religious liberty are similarly warped, arguing that religious employers are exempt from Title VII protections to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin. 3. Dunlap has publicly shown open hostility towards the LGBTQ community, and opposes marriage equality and workplace protections of these communities. 4. He has advanced ‘theories’ and legal positions that would restrict access to health care and abortions for women, especially in underprivileged communities. His attitude towards criminalization of abortion rights and pregnancy outcomes that has led to violence. 5. He has a poor track record on democracy itself. He advances legal arguments that undermine civil rights, insulate corporate and religious institutions from regulation, and curtail democratic participation. His judicial philosophy prioritizes power over people, process over equity, and exclusion over inclusion. In short, he’s a zealot with no scruples except utilizing his power for wrongheaded ‘philosophies’ and a narrow-mind and bigoted world view. The actual sanity of people like this must be called into question during the nominees review. However, I urge you to disqualify and vote NO on Dunlap owing to his extreme, bigoted, and basically hateful views. He must not get a lifetime of appointments to use his gavel to smash people’s civil and judicial rights. Vote NO on Joshua Dunlap for First Circuit. He’s a threat to equal justice. Period.