"We were shocked and dismayed that the Senate Judiciary Committee, by voice vote, approved two nominees whose careers call into serious question their commitments to constitutional rights, including civil and repoductive rights. Judge Shedd's consistent record of hostility in discrimination cases makes him a poor choice to sit on a court presiding over an area with a large minority population and which has been the venue for so many critical civil rights actions. Michael McConnell, about whom there was no committee debate, has been an outspoken activist espousing the most extreme views in opposition to both reproductive rights and the separation of religion and state. We cannot afford to trust that Mr. McConnell will put aside his deeply held and often articulated personal views in applying the law.

"We call upon the US Senate to turn back the Shedd and McConnell nominations and send a message that only those nominees with a demonstrated commitment to the Constitution should be elevated to lifetime seats on the federal bench."