The vote not to confirm Debo Adegbile — a staunch voting rights advocate and principled civil rights attorney — to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice was clearly the disappointing result of a right-wing smear campaign to destroy his character. The seven Democrats who bought into this smear campaign and voted with the GOP should reconsider and support the confirmation of Debo Adegbile.
Why is this important?
Debo Adegbile is one of the nation's top civil rights attorneys and a leading expert on voting rights. He has defended the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court twice — the first time, successfully — and he was the only Black attorney to argue before the Supreme Court last term. At a time when the voting rights of Black folks, women, the elderly, students and many others are under attack, an appointment like Adegbile's would ensure that there was someone in the Justice Department who knows what's at stake and will take a principled stand to defend the rights and privileges we all cherish, including the freedom to vote.
We demand another vote to confirm Adegbile's nomination.
