Nancy Abudu, SPLC lawyer on Biden Supreme Court shortlist, faces scrutiny

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Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announces retirement

Justice Stephen Breyer addresses his decision to retire from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nancy Abudu, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, has also made it onto President Biden's shortlist to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Abudu faces scrutiny over her record on voting rights and the SPLC's scandals.

A graduate of Columbia University and Tulane University Law School, Abudu began her career at a large multinational law firm, served as a staff attorney at the 11th Circuit, joined the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, became the legal director for the ACLU's Florida chapter, and joined the SPLC in February 2019.

Abudu joined the SPLC amid a massive scandal that culminated in the firing of SPLC co-founder Morris Dees in March 2019. The SPLC fired Dees in the wake of claims of racial discrimination and sexual harassment that traced back decades. SPLC President Richard Cohen resigned and the SPLC promised an internal review, the results of which have yet to become public. Abudu did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the scandal and her experiences at the SPLC in its wake.

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Nancy Abudu, President Biden's appellate nominee for the 11th Circuit, discusses the death penalty in Florida. (South Florida PBS/YouTube)

Amid this scandal, a former staffer came forward, claiming that the SPLC uses its "hate group" accusation to exaggerate hate in a fundraising scheme to "bilk" donors. Critics have claimed that the SPLC brands mainstream conservative and Christian organizations "hate groups," placing them on a list and a map with truly hateful organizations like the Ku Klux Klan. 

In August 2012, a terrorist targeted the Family Research Council (FRC) in Washington, D.C, planning to shoot everyone in the building and put a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich by each victim's head. The shooter opened fire, striking a security guard, who successfully tackled him until police arrived, preventing the intended massacre. The shooter, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including terrorism, told the FBI that he found FRC on the SPLC's "hate map." The SPLC condemned the shooting, but it has kept FRC on the "hate map."

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The SPLC has faced multiple defamation lawsuits over its "hate" and "extremist" labeling. In 2018, the SPLC paid $3.375 million and issued a groveling apology after branding Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz an "Anti-Muslim Extremist." The Supreme Court is currently considering whether to take up a Christian ministry's defamation lawsuit challenging the "hate group" accusation. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center's 2020 map of "hate groups." (Southern Poverty Law Center)

In a questionnaire for judicial nominees, Abudu told the Senate Judiciary Committee that, "as the Director for Strategic Litigation, I have taken on significant managerial responsibilities, including overseeing all of the organization's legal programmatic work which, in addition to voting rights, includes immigrants' rights, criminal justice reform, children's rights, LGBTQ rights, and special litigation related to hate groups." Abudu did not respond to a request for comment about this litigation.

Abudu has also made extreme statements concerning voting rights, statements that might put her confirmation to the 11th Circuit – and her potential nomination to the Supreme Court – in jeopardy.

In June 2020 after the death of George Floyd, Abudu compared felons' loss of voting rights to the system of race-based chattel slavery. 

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"Our current criminal justice system is one of the most inhumane examples of how racial discrimination operates and can ruin people’s lives forever," she wrote on the SPLC website, claiming that America's society is "separate and unequal" from "neighborhoods, schools, jobs and – perhaps most horrifying – in our prisons and jails."

Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and President Biden (Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo  |   Reuters)

"When you add laws that prohibit people with a criminal conviction from voting, it’s practically the same system as during slavery – Black people who have lost their freedom and cannot vote," Abudu argued. She did not respond to Fox News' request for comment about whether she stands by this comparison.

In August 2021, Abudu called on Congress to pass H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would entail a federal government takeover of elections in states. She noted that "as HR 4 moves to the Senate, some senators have already committed to doing everything in their power to oppose the bill – up to and including leveraging a legislative tool popular with pro-Jim Crow senators of the past – to prevent its passage and to further erode the fundamental right to vote."

"To protect the future of American democracy, the Senate may need to make the body majority-rule by abolishing the filibuster. So be it," she added, making it clear that her reference to a tool "popular with pro-Jim Crow senators" involved the filibuster rule. 

While pro-Jim Crow legislators did indeed use the filibuster to block legislation they opposed, Democrats recently used the same rule to block the police reform bill proposed by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., when Democrats made up the Senate minority in 2020.

Abudu did not respond to a request for comment on whether she meant to connect opposition to H.R. 4 with Jim Crow.

LinkedIn screenshot of Nancy Abudu "liking" an announcement about Soros Equality Fellows.

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On LinkedIn, Abudu "liked" a post celebrating the 2021 Soros Equality Fellows. According to the Open Society Foundations website, the fellowship "seeks to support emerging midcareer professionals whom we believe will become long-term innovative leaders impacting racial justice." Liberal billionaire George Soros, the fellowship's namesake and the founder of the Open Society Foundations, has faced hefty criticism for his funding of radical liberal organizations and causes. 

Abudu did not respond to Fox News' request for comment on her activity regarding the Soros Equality Fellows.