Rodriguez once represented a pathology laboratory which mislabeled biopsy results that resulted in a patient undergoing an unnecessary cancer surgery.<\/b>
\nProgressive groups are criticizing Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, for ignoring President Joe Biden\u2019s request for judges of a certain caliber. Bennett recently recommended an elite corporate lawyer to hold a position on the federal bench, and activists are seizing on a letter issued by President Joe Biden as a key exhibit in their arguments against Bennet\u2019s pick. On Dec.22, well before the 46th presidency took shape, incoming (and now current) White House counsel Dana Remus sent a letter to senators on transition team letterhead insisting that the Biden administration was focused on prioritizing public defenders and civil rights lawyers\u2014two legal professions that barely register on the federal bench\u2014for district judge positions. \u201cWith respect to U.S. District Court positions, we are particularly focused on nominating individuals whose legal experiences have been historically underrepresented on the federal bench, including those who are public defenders, civil rights and legal aid attorneys, and those who represent Americans in every walk of life,\u201d the Remus letter stressed. The Biden-Remus request came after progressive legal organizations made a series of requests for the new administration to revamp the judiciary with lawyers who didn\u2019t come from the corporate world after decades of bipartisan affection for corporate attorneys resulted in nearly 70 percent of circuit judges hailing from the largely white and high-priced world of elite private practice. \u201cAfter decades of frustration, as the courts become more and more conservative, and more and more deferential to the powerful moneyed interests in our country, a lot of hard-working lawyers who don\u2019t make a lot of money have had it,\u201d former Wisconsin senator Russ Feingold, president of the American Constitution Society, said late last year. \u201cThey\u2019re saying, \u2018Why is it that we work hard, and we make our arguments and that somehow we have to go before judges who don\u2019t have the experience of being on this side of the bar?’\u201d The Biden team listened to that grassroots pressure and all-but repeated the progressive call for non-corporate judges. Bennet, however, appears to have missed the memo. On Feb.3, Bennet had only one name to suggest: a retreaded corporate lawyer previously nominated to fill Colorado\u2019s vacant district court seat by Barack Obama in 2014. Former assistant U.S. attorney Regina Rodriguez is currently a partner at corporate law firm and lobbying giant WilmerHale where she co-chairs the trial practice division. Her biography reads like anathema to the progressive movement and brags about a close relationship with regulated industries and corporate leaders. \u201cShe has worked closely with company CEOs, senior management and boards of directors in highly regulated industries\u2014such as pharmaceuticals, biomedical, healthcare, technology and medical devices\u2014to create a culture of compliance in an ever-changing regulatory landscape,\u201d the biography states. \u201cMs. Rodriguez, who has worked in both government and private practice, has a deep understanding of the regulatory challenges facing companies today, and works strategically and collaboratively across the entire corporate spectrum to provide exceptional client service and counsel.\u201d In the past, Rodriguez represented McDonalds in an anti-discrimination case after a customer alleged racist treatment from the restaurant. She\u2019s also taken the company line on various Big Pharma cases \u2014 including an instance in which companies failed to disclose harmful side effects and lied about the effectiveness of their products. In one particularly controversial 2006 case, Rodriguez represented an anatomical and pathology laboratory which mislabeled biopsy results that resulted in a patient undergoing an unnecessary cancer surgery. Those episodes, and others, from her career are not likely to endear her to the reform-minded administration and progressives would like to point that out. Demand Justice, a left-of-center judicial advocacy group which led the charge against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh with a series of hard-hitting advertisements, launched a digital ad campaign that accuses Bennet of \u201cstanding in the way\u201d of Biden\u2019s stated goal to reshape the courts. The group\u2019s Co-Founder and Chief Counsel Christopher Kang rubbished the disconnect while praising the White House\u2019s quest. \u201cPresident Biden\u2019s plan is exactly what we need to rebalance a court system biased in favor of the rich and the powerful,\u201d Kang told Law&Crime. \u201cThe idea that Sen. Bennet couldn\u2019t find a single diverse, well-qualified public defender or public interest lawyer to recommend defies common sense, and it reflects an outdated approach that helped create our broken justice system in the first place.\u201d Colorado progressives are similarly dismayed with Bennet\u2019s choice. Former state representative Joe Salazar criticized the pick by saying it showed the Mile High State\u2019s senior senator does not consider Civil Rights \u201ca top priority.\u201d \u201cI appreciate that their selection is Latina, but corporate attorneys are not on President Biden\u2019s priority list,\u201d Salazar told Colorado Politics. \u201cIt would be nice to get somebody in there that has a little different of an experience that is more on the criminal defendant\u2019s side,\u201d Denver-based litigator Leonard Martinez told the outlet. \u201cEvery time you see these judges appointed, it\u2019s district attorneys, U.S. Attorneys \u2014 a prosecutor type of attorney nominated or a corporate lawyer.\u201d The concerns are not just aesthetic or academic. Recent research suggests that judges with corporate and prosecutorial backgrounds are exceedingly more anti-worker when they take the bench than judges without corporate or law enforcement bona fides. \u201cThe result held true when comparing only Obama-appointed judges,\u201d the study noted. \u201cObama judges with corporate backgrounds were 36% less likely to decide in favor of workers in employment cases, and former prosecutors were 50% less likely to decide in their favor.\u201d So, why is Colorado\u2019s Democratic senator outright bucking the request from the president of his own party? It\u2019s probably because of where he gets his own recommendations. Bennet uses a commission overwhelmingly comprised of corporate lawyers and prosecutors to inform his judicial picks. A report notes that 72% of the members on Bennet\u2019s commission have such backgrounds \u2014 higher than any other senator with a publicly-disclosed commission roster. Bennet famously introduced Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch during his confirmation hearings. \u201cPresident Biden has made clear that he wants to have a different kind of judge nominated,\u201d Kang, himself a former Obama administration official, said at the time the group went on the air against Bennet. \u201cAnd yet Sen. Bennet, in his first recommendation, has recommended somebody who does not fit that mold, who is very much in the old frame of a corporate lawyer. That\u2019s not what President Biden has asked for, and it\u2019s not what our courts need right now.\u201d Bennet\u2019s office told a Colorado news outlet that it was \u201cdisappointing that an out-of-state dark money group\u201d was attacking the pick. Regina Rodriguez \u201cis an incredibly qualified Latina candidate who would bring diversity to the federal bench,\u201d a Bennet spokesperson said. \u201cShe also has a long track record of community service to Colorado\u2019s children and working families.\u201d Rodriguez did not respond to the outlet\u2019s request for comment. Have a tip we should know? [email protected]<\/p>\n