March 10, 2011

Senate Judiciary Committee to Vote on Nomination to Appellate Court of Nominee with Ties to Former AG Eliot Spitzer

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The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote later today on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.  Ms. Halligan previously served as Solicitor General under then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer while he was suing members of the firearms industry.  As New York’s Solicitor General, Halligan signed the brief in People of the State of New York v. Sturm, Ruger & Co, Inc., et al arguing that the lawful and highly regulated sale of firearms somehow created a “public nuisance.”  The New York appellate decision roundly rejected her arguments and upheld the dismissal of the case.  Later, she filed an amicus brief in City of New York v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp. in support of the Giuliani/Bloomberg lawsuit against members of our industry arguing that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was unconstitutional.  Every appellate court in the nation has rejected that argument and not a single federal court judge has ever agreed, not even Brooklyn, N.Y., federal court judge Jack B. Weinstein whose ruling Halligan was seeking to have overturned.

Her specious arguments as Solicitor General in support of baseless lawsuits designed to destroy America’s firearms industry raise important questions about whether Ms. Halligan is qualified to serve as a federal appellate court judge.

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