CANCELED: AF-Milwaukee: Freedom of the Courts, Speech, and Religion

**Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, we have decided to cancel this event. We are disappointed that we will be unable to hold this event, but the health and safety of our members remains our top priority. Please stay tuned to americasfuture.org for further event updates.**

What’s it like to be nominated to be a federal judge, and then have that nomination blocked, unconstitutionally? What’s the role of an independent judiciary, and why, if it’s independent, is it the subject of so much partisan bickering? To what extent – if any – should one’s religious beliefs impact their professional advancement?

As Wisconsin prepares for an upcoming Supreme Court election, join AF-Milwaukee in discussing these questions and why an independent judiciary is essential to our freedom.

Gordon Giampietro, who was nominated by President Trump in late 2017 to serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, will share his personal experience and thoughts on the questions above on April 2 at the Wisconsin Club from 6pm to 8pm.

Giampietro’s nomination to the federal court was ultimately withdrawn in early 2019 after a contentious nomination process that included personal attacks of racism and bigotry – all based on demonstrably false accusations. Though he was initially supported and encouraged by colleagues, friends and the public, that support largely dwindled following the publication of a BuzzFeed News article that attacked statements he made in Catholic radio interviews in years prior.

A former law firm partner, federal prosecutor and now an assistant general counsel at Northwestern Mutual, Giampietro’s story is an example of the current hostility towards people of faith, and the divisive battle over the judiciary that has been raging since Robert Bork was “bork’d” from his Supreme Court nomination in 1987.

Join AF-Milwaukee to hear more about the fight over our supposedly independent third branch of government, why that fight has crept down even to the nomination of district court judges, and what, if anything, we can do about it for the future.