Civil rights groups oppose 10th Circuit nominee

Several civil rights organizations are opposing the nomination of an Oklahoma City attorney to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

In a letter this month to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the groups called Jerome Holmes a "longstanding and outspoken critic of affirmative action."

Among those who signed the letter were the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Alliance for Justice, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Urban League and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The 44-year-old Holmes served as a federal prosecutor in Oklahoma City from 1994 to 2005. He was nominated by President Bush last month for a seat on the Denver-based court.

The court hears appeals from courts in Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico and Wyoming.

He would be the first black judge on the circuit court.