A representative from a national Christian organization dropped off a bound petition at Sen. Patrick Leahy’s Burlington office Friday morning, hoping to sway Leahy in his role as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Gil Mathys, a member of the progressive Christian group Faithful America, said the petition held the names of 100 Vermonters and 20,000 Christians from across the nation who are opposed to the federal nomination of a Georgia judge.
A nomination package worked out between the White House and Georgia’s two Republican senators includes the controversial nomination of Georgia state judge and former state legislator Michael Boggs.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this month, the Associated Press reports, Democrats challenged Boggs’ record as a legislator:
They focused on his support for measures to post information online about doctors who perform abortions and to keep the Confederate battle emblem on the Georgia flag.
Boggs reversed his support of both votes at the hearing, the AP reports, but for some Vermont Christians, that wasn’t good enough.
"In the case of Mr. Boggs, his public statements concerning homosexual scout leaders, his posting of the names and addresses of abortion providers online in order to have them harassed - those are things that we as Christians are very concerned about," Mathys said.
Leahy has also voiced concern about Boggs’ record, and emphasized that even though he is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was not part of the negotiations between the White House and the Georgia Senators. According to spokesman David Carle, Leahy hasn’t yet announced a decision on how he will vote. Boggs has answered questions before the committee, but a vote on his confirmation has not been scheduled.
