Texan gets panel's nod for federal judge post over Democrats' objections

WASHINGTON — It has become a familiar scene at the Senate Judiciary Committee: A Texas nominee for a federal judicial post gets blasted by Democrats before being approved on a party-line vote.

On Thursday, the committee, which includes both Texas GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, considered the nomination of Matthew Kacsmaryk for a district judgeship in Amarillo as Democrats sharply criticized his writings and comments on LGBT rights and women’s contraceptive rights.

Kacsmaryk, deputy general counsel of First Liberty Institute in Plano, was approved 11-10 but not before Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., cited the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national organizations, which is opposed to him.

“He is an anti-LGBT activist and culture warrior who does not respect the equal dignity of all people,” she said, reading from a letter from the conference. “His record reveals a hostility to LGBT equality and to women’s health, and he would not be able to rule fairly and impartially in cases involving those issues.” In one case, said Feinstein, “Mr. Kacsmaryk wanted health care providers to be able to discriminate against LGBT individuals.”

Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/texan-gets-panel-nod-for-federal-judge-post-over-democrats-objections/DU93KGkx4AE4qYEcNROGhO/