1. United States
2. Vt.
3. Letter

Please oppose the nomination of Michael Drescher and Michael Drescher to the Vermont Supreme Court. As a federal prosecutor, Michael Drescher played a central role in efforts to detain and deport Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi for expressing their views about Gaza. He worked to keep Ozturk’s case out of Vermont and continued to argue for her incarceration even after a federal court ordered her return. Prosecutors are not required to defend unconstitutional actions by the state; they have discretion and a duty to uphold the rule of law and protect free expression. Christina Nolan has also demonstrated troubling judgment, most recently by attempting to bring a firearm into a courthouse, which is illegal in Vermont. I urge you to oppose these nominations.