U.S. Senate confirms Georgia judge to powerful federal court Politically Georgia, Jul 31, 2018, Tamar Hallerman - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted narrowly on Tuesday to confirm Britt Grant to Atlanta’s 11th U.S. Circuit, greenlighting the Georgia Supreme Court justice for a lifetime position on the powerful federal appeals court that frequently takes on hotly contested issues such as gun rights and the death penalty.
The vote largely fell along party lines, with three Democrats joining 49 Republicans to confirm the former Georgia solicitor general. The final tally was 52-46. GOP boosters, including Georgia U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Johnny Isakson, called Grant an experienced and well-liked conservative jurist.
“Clearly, Justice Grant is immensely qualified to fill this Court of Appeals vacancy, and there is no doubt in my mind that she will do a fantastic job,†Perdue said Monday on the Senate floor. “In fact, our country needs more judges like Justice Grant.â€
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer framed Grant’s legal philosophy as “extreme†in the lead-up to Tuesday’s vote. The New York Democrat echoed stances taken by some civil rights and abortion rights groups, which cited cases she argued as Georgia’s solicitor general on issues such as voting rights, gay marriage and the state’s “fetal pain†abortion law.
“From reproductive rights to gun safety, name a partisan legal case from the past five years and there’s a good chance Britt Grant has been involved, taking up a fringe legal argument way out of the American mainstream to weaken well-established rights and overturn a precedent in pursuit of an ideological objective,†Schumer said.
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