Senator Joe Kyrillos

March 22, 2012   

Contact: Senate Republican Office / (609) 847-3600
Senator Christopher Bateman, Senator Gerald Cardinale, Senator Joe Kyrillos, Senator Kevin J. O'Toole, Senator Mike Doherty

Senate Republican Judiciary Committee Members Gerald Cardinale, Kevin O’Toole, Joe Kyrillos, Christopher Bateman, and Michael J. Doherty issued the following statement regarding the Committee’s rejection of Supreme Court nominee Phil Kwon:

Today, Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee rejected an exceptionally well-qualified Supreme Court nominee for no good reason whatsoever. From the moment Mr. Kwon was nominated, the Majority engaged in a campaign of intensely personal character assassination centering around issues that were completely immaterial to his fitness to serve on the court.

The Majority’s entire line of questioning and basis for rejecting his nomination centered on events that had absolutely nothing to do with Phil Kwon.

In short, Phil Kwon was railroaded out of sheer partisan animosity toward the governor. Theirs was a rejection seeking a reason. Faced with a nominee whom there was no rational basis to reject, the Majority decided to create one based on the actions of others for which he bears no legal, ethical, or personal responsibility.

If the Majority thinks that its own political ends are what matters in this process, they are mistaken. The only thing that matters is the public’s right to Supreme Court justices that are well qualified, fair, and nominated by a Governor to whom the voters gave this awesome responsibility.

Their petty actions today are a disgrace to the legislature and the people we serve.

• Beck Expresses Outrage at Kwon Rejection
• Kean: “News of Bar Association Sign-off on Harris, Kwon Calls Democrat Motives into Question”
• Kyrillos: “If Kwon Wasn’t Qualified, Who Is?”
• Cardinale: “Korean Community Right to be Outraged Over Kwon Rejection”
• Cardinale: Hold Democrats Accountable for Politically Motivated Injustices