(Photo Credit: Google Images)
Wesley Lowery and Ed O’Keefe of the Washington Post are reporting that President Barack Obama’s pick to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Debo Adegbile was blocked by the Senate, including eight Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) who initially supported the nomination, voted against Adegbile’s nomination.
Lowery and O’Keefe write:
“Adegbile, 47, spent more than a decade working for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where he served as the group’s in-house voting rights expert. The legal defense fund began its work on Abu-Jamal’s behalf well before Adegbile began working for it, however he did contribute to the filing of a 2009 court brief that argued that Abu-Jamal faced a discriminatory jury — an appeal later found to have merit by a judge.
But, that participation in Abu-Jamal’s appeals, opponents including Faulkner’s widow have argued, should disqualify him from holding any publicly appointed position in the justice system.”
In addition to Reid, Democrats who voted against the Obama nominee were Chris Coons (Del.),Bob Casey (Pa.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.V.), Joe Donnolly (Ind.) and John Walsh (Mont.).
Read more at The Washington Post.
Like The Burton Wire on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @TheBurtonWire.
