The U.S. Senate has rejected the nomination of Debo Patrick Adegbile, a former NAACP official who acted as lawyer for convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, to become head of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
Adegbile represented Abu-Jamal on appeal. The widow of officer Danny Faulkner along with police organizations and other groups, objected to the nomination, arguing among other things, that Adegbile became a champion of Abu-Jamal beyond being his appellate lawyer.
A change.org petition started by Faulkner’s widow, Maureen, garnered widespread support and stated in part as follows:
Mr. Adegbile previously led the Legal Defense Fund at the NAACP. In that position, Mr. Adegbile chose to throw the weight and resources of his organization behind Abu-Jamal. Attorneys working under Mr. Adegbile’s supervision have stood before rallies of Abu-Jamal supporters and openly professed that it was “an extreme honor” to represent the man who put a hollow based bullet into Officer Faulkner’s brain as he lay on the ground wounded, unarmed, and defenseless.While Mr. Adegbile may be a well-qualified and competent litigator, through his words, his decisions, and his actions he has clearly and repeatedly demonstrated that he is not the best person to fill this position. Clearly there are others with similar qualifications that would be better choices. The thought that Mr. Adegbile would be rewarded, in part, for the work he did for Officer Faulkner’s killer is revolting. Please set aside any partisan feelings you have and do the right thing when you vote on Mr. Adegbile’s confirmation. Please vote “no.”
In early February, Faulkner’s widow was interviewed about the nomination:
In a key procedural vote today, the nomination failed to advance, by a vote of 52-47 against, with 7 Democrats voting No:
Here is Senator Ted Cruz’s speech against the nomination:
Update: Obama calls the vote a travesty:
President Obama denounced the Senate defeat of a Justice Department nominee on Wednesday, calling it “a travesty based on wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant.”
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