[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 176 (Tuesday, October 31, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S6888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Joan Larsen

  I oppose the nomination of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen 
to the Sixth Circuit. She is one of the 21 Supreme Court candidates 
that the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation handpicked for 
President Trump. Clearly, those rightwing organizations are confident 
that they will like her rulings if she is confirmed.
  When she appeared before our committee, I asked some simple 
questions, and I was troubled by the responses.
  In 2006, Justice Larsen wrote an op-ed defending President Bush's use 
of a signing statement on the McCain torture amendment. The McCain 
amendment prohibited torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
treatment. I asked Justice Larsen about that op-ed and asked her if she 
believes waterboarding is torture and illegal. She would not answer the 
question. The law is clear on this matter, and I have voted against 
nominees in the past who would not acknowledge this.
  I also asked Justice Larsen about the $140,000 in ads that a dark 
money front group called the Judicial Crisis Network had run in support 
of her nomination. This is the same rightwing, dark money organization 
that spent millions of dollars in undisclosed donations running ads to 
oppose Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court and to support 
the nomination of Neil Gorsuch.
  I am troubled that special interest groups are making undisclosed 
donations to these nomination front groups. These special interests 
likely have a stake in the cases that will come before these judges. 
The donations should be transparent so that judges can make informed 
decisions about recusal.
  I asked Justice Larsen if she could call on this front group to stop 
running ads in support of her nomination unless donations to the groups 
are made public. She responded that this was a political debate on 
which she could not opine. I think that is an absurd position, given 
that the debate here is over her own nomination and getting information 
for her own recusal decisions.
  I also asked Justice Larsen if she agreed, as a factual matter, with 
President Trump's patently absurd claim that 3 to 5 million people 
voted illegally in the 2016 election. I think that is an easy question. 
Justice Larsen ducked it, saying that this was a political debate. I am 
troubled by these answers. I believe Justice Larsen has not shown the 
necessary independence from the President or rightwing groups like the 
Judicial Crisis Network, and she does not earn my vote.