In 1998, Judge Southwick joined the Mississippi Court of Appeals’s ruling “that upheld the reinstatement, without any punishment whatsoever, of a white state employee who was fired for calling an African American co-worker a ‘ good ole nigger.'” The decision, eventually overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court, effectively ratified a hearing officer’s opinion that the slur was only “somewhat derogatory” and “was in effect calling the individual a ‘teacher’s pet.'” In July, Sen. Mississippi Department of Human Services. REGRESSIVE CIVIL RIGHTS RECORD: One of the most troubling decisions in Southwick’s record is Richmond v. Urge your senators to vote “no” on Southwick’s nomination here. The court has a long history of enforcing civil rights, yet President Bush has nominated Southwick, who is opposed by civil rights groups such as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, NAACP, Black Leadership Forum, Magnolia Bar, Human Rights Campaign, Congressional Black Caucus, National Urban League, National Partnership for Women and Families, and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. The Fifth Circuit covers Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana, and has the “largest percentage of minority residents of any Federal circuit in America” - 44 percent. This week, the Senate will likely vote on the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Matt Corley, Ali Frick, and Jeremy Richmond By Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna,