Senate panel advances Trump nominee who wouldn’t say if Brown v. Board of Education was decided correctly

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a judicial nominee who faced criticism for declining to say whether the Supreme Court correctly decided a landmark case that outlawed racial segregation in schools.

Wendy Vitter, President Trump’s pick to serve as a federal judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, was approved by an 11-10 party line committee vote, according to Nola.com. Her nomination will now go to the full Senate.

Vitter drew national attention for her testimony to the committee in April. Questioned by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on whether Brown v. Board of Education was correctly decided in 1954, Vitter would not give a straightforward answer.

“Senator, I don’t mean to be coy, but I think I get into a difficult area when I start commenting on Supreme Court decisions — which are correctly decided and which I may disagree with,” Vitter said.

Later in the April hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) further pressed Vitter, asking whether she agrees that segregating schools by race is immoral. Vitter agreed that it was.

Vitter is the general counsel for the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and has also worked in the district attorney’s office in New Orleans. She left the legal profession for a time to help run campaigns for her husband, former Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), according to NPR.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) slammed the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Thursday, tweeting that “we can’t let this fly under the radar.”

“The Trump administration is systemically appointing extreme judges to the federal bench,” Harris tweeted. “Today, over my objections the Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Wendy Vitter, someone who refused to endorse the Brown v. Board decision. 

We can’t let this fly under the radar: the Trump administration is systemically appointing extreme judges to the federal bench. Today, over my objections the Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Wendy Vitter, someone who refused to endorse the Brown v. Board decision.

— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) May 24, 2018