The Alameda County Bar Association Joins Bar Associations Around California and California State Bar President, David Pasternak to Call on President Obama and Senate to Fill Supreme Court Vacancy

OAKLAND, CA – Today, the Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) joined bar associations from across the state of California to send a letter to President Barack Obama and Senate leaders urging them to heed their constitutional duty to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. The bar associations, representing tens of thousands of lawyers throughout the state, called on the president to quickly nominate a qualified candidate to the Supreme Court, and for the Senate to consider that nominee without delay. In addition to the ACBA, the signatories to the letter include the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Lake County Bar Association, and other state and local bar associations.

Commenting on the decision to join forces with other bar associations in this effort, ACBA President Stephanie Sato stated, “As my colleagues and I fulfill our duty to fight for justice for our clients, we ask that the President and the Senate fulfill their constitutional duties. Justice cannot prevail if our nation’s highest court is compromised by politics.”

With the issuance of this letter, bar associations representing the two most populous cities in the United States, New York and Los Angeles, have now called on the Senate to consider a nominee to the Supreme Court without delay. The California letter comes on the heels of similar calls by the New York State and New York City Bars  respectfully requesting the Senate to reconsider its refusal to consider a nominee put forward by the president. Constitutional law scholars at universities around the country have also weighed in via a joint statement, pointing out that the Constitution “has no exception for election years.”