Chairman Lindsey Graham
Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510-6050
Dear Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Feinstein:
The AFL-CIO urges you to oppose the nomination of Justin Walker to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. Only ten years after his graduation from law school, Mr. Walker has extremely limited legal experience, minimal trial experience, and a deeply partisan record that raises very serious concerns about his ability to be fair and open-minded.
Admitted only this year to practice in the Western District of Kentucky, Mr. Walker’s inexperience alone should disqualify him from a seat on this court. The ABA has rated him “not qualified,” explaining in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee: “It is the Standing Committee’s judgment at the present time that Mr. Walker does not meet the minimum professional competence standard necessary to perform the responsibilities required by the high office of a federal district court judge.”
Although his legal experience is limited, his support for corporate interests over the rights of working people has been robust. Currently, Mr. Walker serves as co-counsel to Rockwell Mining LLC in a pending case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where he is arguing that the court should vacate a National Labor Relations Board decision. In Rockwell Mining LLC, 367 NLRB No. 46 (2018), the Republican members of the Board found Rockwell Mining unlawfully failed and refused to recognize and bargain with the union in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. In representing Rockwell Mining, Mr. Walker seeks to undermine the collective bargaining rights of the employees to achieve better wages, benefits and working conditions afforded by the NLRA.
Moreover, Mr. Walker has repeatedly expressed his vehement opposition to the Affordable Care Act, a view that would strip healthcare coverage for millions of Americans. He has also written that requiring employer-based insurance policies to cover a full range of birth control options is unconstitutional.
Our nation deserves judges who are both qualified and unbiased. Mr. Walker in no way meets that standard. We urge you to oppose his nomination for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
Sincerely,
William Samuel
Director, Government Affairs