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News Release        Please Distribute: Dear Colleagues: Today we will let the press tell the story of our grassroots efforts -- events in Ohio and Washington -- to stop the confirmation of Sutton and other judicial nominees who put ideology before justice and have weakened federal disability and civil rights protections. (Links to the full articles are below). On Monday we will send you the details, as well as many thanks to all who worked so hard and traveled so far to make an impact. This is democracy at work and we are not done. There will be a committee vote on Sutton in about two weeks and then the floor vote in the Senate.  We will get the dates to you ASAP and we all must be ready to speak out again. Here is the news:     Boston Globe: Yesterday's hearing, in fact, resembled an indoor rally, as scores of people in wheelchairs showed up to protest the nomination of Jeffrey Sutton, an Ohio lawyer who they said has sought to limit the reach of the Americans with Disabilities Act. So many people jammed the hearing room on the second floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building that the hearing had to be moved to another, much larger room. NY Times: The hearing began in a small room in the Dirksen Office Building. But advocates for several dozen groups of the handicapped on hand to oppose Mr. Sutton's nomination could not fit inside and complained loudly. Jim Ward, president of ADA Watch, a disabilities coalition and a leader of the protest against Mr. Sutton, was furious at the situation at the beginning of the hearing when he spotted former Senator Bob Dole, whose right arm was shattered in World War II and is a hero to many in the disabilities rights movement. Mr. Dole had come to speak on behalf of Mr. Sutton. But Mr. Ward confronted him about the lack of space. Mr. Dole took Mr. Ward to Mr. Hatch, who eventually agreed to move the hearing to a larger room. Mr. Dole, in the end, had to leave and did not speak on behalf of Mr. Sutton. Northeastern Pennsylvania News: Dozens of disabled people and activists from at least six states chanted "Don't Roll Back Our Rights" during a protest Thursday against Ohio lawyer Jeffrey Sutton's nomination to a federal appeals judgeship. "If Sutton sits on the bench, he'll push our rights back to the 17th century," shouted Bobby Coward, a Washington resident, from his wheelchair. The group of about 150 people, wearing stickers and buttons with Sutton's name crossed out, cheered, booed and hissed as they urged the Senate to reject Sutton's nomination. "We in Ohio have had an eye on Sutton for 18 months and we have gotten nothing but rhetoric out of our senator's about this man," said Tim Harrington, 42, of Toledo, Ohio. "When it comes to disability rights, we don't want him to have a say."Harrington was among about 30 Ohioans who traveled to Washington by bus for the protest. Other opponents came from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Maryland and Virginia. They spent the day visiting their senators' offices to make their case against Sutton. The Toledo Blade: Wearing buttons that read "Stop Sutton,'' the disabled advocates are urging lawmakers to reject Mr. Sutton's nomination because he helped to convince the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 that Congress exceeded its authority by permitting state workers to sue their states under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Associated Press (AP) Photo: While Disability Rights supporters complained to Senators about the lact of access to the hearing room, supporters outside chanted loudly, "We want access!" The protest halted the hearing which was then reconvened in a larger hearing room. Photo of Becky Ogle leading the protest outside the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room on Capitol Hill:       http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030130&Category=NEWS24&ArtNo=101300087&Ref=AR Akron Beacon Journal: For more than nine hours, senators peppered the three Appeals Court nominees with questions, with the focus of the inquiry being directed at one nominee -- Sutton. The nine Democrats on the 19-member committee targeted what they claimed to be Sutton's efforts to challenge and weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Violence Against Women Act. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., accused Sutton of ''supporting a viewpoint that has dismantled protections'' against discrimination. Opposition to Sutton's nomination was underscored by the more than 200 disabled individuals, many in wheelchairs, who attended the hearing in hopes of blocking his confirmation. The hearing had to be moved to accommodate the spectators and news media. Approximately 20 representatives of the Ability Center for Greater Toledo participated in the protest on their way to Washington for a meeting with U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine (R., Ohio), a Senate Judiciary Committee member, today. "We have the rights according to the ADA and now they're trying to take them away," said Frances McCallum, a 67-year-old, wheelchair-bound woman from Toledo suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Cleveland Plain Dealer: Sutton, 42, had to make his way through spectators using guide dogs and wheelchairs - people opposed to his nomination - as he entered a crowded Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room. "He [Sutton] is slippery," disability rights activist James S. Brown of Arlington, Va., acknowledged with grudging respect. LA Times: Disability rights advocates packed the small hearing room to protest Sutton's nomination, forcing the committee to move to a larger room in the Dirksen Building. Sutton, as a state lawyer for Ohio, made a specialty of arguing, and winning, states' rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He won a pair of 5-4 rulings in which the court shielded state agencies from being sued for damages by employees who said they were discriminated against because of a disability or their age. The setback for the disabled came in the case of a nursing supervisor who was demoted after she battled breast cancer. "Sutton's career has been highlighted by aggressive -- and often successful -- efforts to dismantle federal disability rights and civil rights protections," said Jim Ward, president of the National Coalition for Disability Rights. Toledo Blade: Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) criticized Mr. Sutton’s repeated statements that he was merely representing his clients’ positions on various controversial issues and could have easily argued the other side, if he had been hired to do so. "I think you are hiding behind that client thing, and we are not having a debate on the real issues,’’ Senator Schumer said. "We need to break through this shibboleth that philosophy doesn’t matter. If someone’s philosophy didn’t matter, then the administration would have sent a far broader panoply of judicial nominees.’’ In the days leading up to our events, the media focused on our plans: Associated Press (AP): More than 400 national, state and local organizations have announced they oppose Sutton's nomination. Many also are against Cook's nomination. The organizations plan a news conference on Monday. And on Tuesday, they will begin calling their senators, and faxing and e-mailing letters. As the confirmation hearings begin on Wednesday, activists in Ohio are planning a protest in Columbus, followed by a bus trip to Washington. The groups then will hold another event in Washington on Thursday, which should coincide with another wave of phone calls, faxes and e-mails. Dayton Daily News: Hundreds of protesters plan a march on Washington followed by an e-mail and phone campaign against Columbus, Ohio lawyer Jeffrey Sutton, who has been named to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. ‘‘We’re putting the call out that this is something that the disabled community has to come out and make big noise on. We’ve been too quiet in the past,’’ said Mark Derry, an activist from Morgantown, W.Va., who is working with groups in Ohio to mount a nationwide protest. The Headlines (Click on Links for Full Story): Northeastern Pennsylvania News: "Activists Travel to Washington to Protest Sutton's Nomination." http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6884899&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=8 The Cincinnati Post: "Attacks Await Nominee" http://www.cincypost.com/2003/01/25/collins012503.html Boston Globe: "Battle Reheating over Court Nominees" http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/030/nation/Battle_reheating_over_court_nominees+.shtml New York Times: "GOP Groups Judicial Nominees to Thwart Opponents" http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/politics/30JUDG.html AP: "Critics Speak Out Agains Ohioans Nomination" http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/5028951.htm Washington Times: "Judge Pick Hit on Stances on Disability" http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030130-991978.htm The Beacon Journal: "Senators Grill Judicial Nominees" http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/local/5063998.htm LA Times: "Several Groups Speak Out Against Bush's Choices" http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-judges30jan30.story The Cleveland Plain Dealer: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/104288860431280.xml http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/ispol/1043937111137910.xml?cleve Toledo Blade: "Bush Court Pick Tried to Limit Civil, Disability Rights" http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/mal/zoom.pbs&Site=TO&Date=20030130&Category=NEWS24&ArtNo=101300087&Ref=AR Dayton Daily News: "Disabled, Civil Rights Groups Organize Campaign Against Ohip Nominee" http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/local/daily/0125nominee.html Lancaster Eagle Gazette: "Ohio's 6th Circuit Nominees Expected to Draw Fire." http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/news/stories/20030127/localnews/860012.html AP: "Ohio Appeals Court Nominees' Hearing Placed on Fast Track" http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=23&ID=82643&r=0