On Monday, The Washington Post published a puff piece on Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, lauding him for potentially presiding over the confirmation of the first Black female Supreme Court Justice. But as RNLA Executive Director Michael Thielen points out, Durbin has a long history of "abuse and bigotry" against judicial nominees during his time on the Committee, the most recent example being how he grilled Justice Amy Coney Barrett about her Catholic beliefs.

And contrary to WaPo’s claim he “cement[ed] his status as a player” for “racial advancement,” @dickdurbin’s history on the Judiciary Committee is rife with anti-Catholic & anti-Hispanic attacks. He asked Justice Barrett if she was an “orthodox Catholic”3/5 https://t.co/sVjOuwiFrT

— Michael Thielen (@MB_Thielen) February 22, 2022

On Tuesday, Senators Angus King, Amy Klobuchar, and Dick Durbin announced their proposal for reforming the Electoral Count Act (ECA), the Electoral Count Modernization Act. Before we begin on the actual bill, we must give the Democrats credit for actually making a proposal on the ECA. After massive "voting rights" bills that had little to do with making elections better or voting rights and more to do with their re-elections and a federal takeover of elections, the Democrats are actually focused on the subject of the bill's title this time. We are hopeful that this is sign the Democrats' dreams of partisan election "reform" outside the ECA are dead.

The September 13th protest by liberals in front of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home was too much even for Senate Democrats. 

Senate Judiciary Committee members from both parties denounced a protest targeting the Maryland home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, saying the families and homes of government officials are not fair game.  . . .

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) similarly criticized protests targeting public figures’ homes.

“We all know that you have to have a tough mental hide to be in this business,” Durbin said. But “it is absolutely unacceptable from my point of view to involve and major public figure’s family or their home, or to involve yourself in criminal trespass in the name of political freedom of speech.”

“There are proper venues to express yourself and I don’t believe a person’s home or their family should be fair game in this business,” he added.

Senate Judiciary Republicans led by Chuck Grassley are calling on Chairman Dick Durbin to call a hearing on President Joe Biden's worsening border crisis:

Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee considered the controversial nomination of Vanita Gupta to be associate attorney general. The vote on Gupta's nomination ended in a tie. As reported by CNN:

The Senate Judiciary Committee was in the spotlight today as Merrick Garland, President Biden's nominee for Attorney General, was advanced out of the committee. The next stop is a confirmation vote by the full Senate. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin opined on his new role. But as the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Ed Whelan points out, Durbin's interview distorts the reality that he inherited.

Dick Durbin’s Distortions https://t.co/H0ShRcpp4K

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) March 1, 2021

The Senate Judiciary Committee was in the spotlight today as Merrick Garland, President Biden's nominee for Attorney General, was advanced out of the committee. The next stop is a confirmation vote by the full Senate. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin opined on his new role. But as the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Ed Whelan points out, Durbin's interview distorts the reality that he inherited.

Dick Durbin’s Distortions https://t.co/H0ShRcpp4K

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) March 1, 2021

RNLA Betty Murphy Award Winner Mike Davis and the Article III Project released a letter signed by conservative leaders in response to Senate Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s threats on Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh last week:

In a better world, this episode would mark the end of Chuck Schumer’s political career.  But even in America in 2020, it should be a permanent blot on Schumer’s record. We therefore strongly support a resolution to censure Schumer on the Senate floor.

While most of DC is focused on the “impeachment inquiry” into President Trump, Senate Judiciary Committee Member and Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris and far-left extremist groups like Demand Justice are calling for the impeachment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. 

Harris’ letter begins with citing her own questions and Senate floor speech as proof.  Then she goes into details from the recently debunked and uncorroborated  allegation from the book by a couple of New York Times reporters.  As the Washington Examiner describes this:

Many have long believed that Democrats use race as a political weapon, especially against those of a protected class.  This has long been part of judicial nominations politics in particular.  Form the “high tech lynching” of Clarence Thomas during the George H.W. Bush administration to the fact that Senator Dick Durbin led opposition to Miguel Estrada during the George W. Bush administration for the racist reason that he did not want a Republican to nominate the first Hispanic to be on the Supreme Court.  Now comes another test for the Democrats. 

Today President Donald Trump nominated the first openly gay person to a federal circuit court, Patrick Bumatay.  Bumatay is also a minority and most importantly an outstanding nominee for the Ninth Circuit.  His background is very impressive.