Howard Nielson has been nominated for a lifetime appointment as judge for federal district court. Nielson has a long and disturbing history of partisan acts and extreme right-wing views.

  • Wrote memo defending the use of torture on civilians for the Bush-Cheney administration.
  • Opposed Affordable Care Act — argued that federal government didn’t have to help pay for people’s health insurance in certain states.
  • Argued to restrict abortion rights –argued for requirement that outpatient abortions be performed by doctors with admitting privileges to a hospital or surgical center–an unnecessary requirement that would limit access to safe abortion.
  • Worked for NRA in many cases against common-sense gun safety, such as a ban on handgun purchases for people under 21, a ban on people ages 18 to 20 publicly carrying firearms, and a ban on semiautomatic rifles and large capacity magazines.
  • Fought same-sex marriage and hinted that only a man and a woman can form a family to raise children well.

Please call your Senators and say:
Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent from [zip code]. I’m calling to ask the Senator to vote NO on the nomination of Howard Nielson for a judgeship to federal district court. I am deeply concerned by Nielson’s past actions against the Affordable Care Act, women’s reproductive rights, common-sense gun safety, and LGBTQ marriage equality. I am also disturbed that Nielson defended the torture of civilians in a memo for the Bush-Cheney administration. Nielson should not be appointed as a federal judge.

To find your senators, see https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members.

Additional Talking Points for office visits here.

Sources

  1. Alliance for Justice–Report on Nielson
  2. “Oppose the Confirmation of Howard Nielson,” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
  3. The Vetting Room–Report on Nielson
  4. “Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Reject Trump’s judicial nominee for his complicity in torture,” Salon.com

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