Please write, email or call Governor Ayotte to let her know politely that you would appreciate a response to the 7/8/25 letter discussed in our Op Ed below.

View the full content of our letter, including our questions for the nominee here.

An OpEd written by Kent Street Coalition volunteers was published in the Union Leader on August 4, 2025 and the Concord Monitor on Aug 14, 2025. It is shared in its entirety below:

Ayotte nominee for highest court must respect rule of law

“WHEN citizens imagine the mechanisms that safeguard their freedoms, the most critical but perhaps least visible among them is the rule of law. In an era when the President of the United States makes a daily habit of attacking judges and skirting, if not openly defying, court orders, our state Supreme Court must stand as a bulwark for protecting the rule of law.

“Gov. Kelly Ayotte is preparing to nominate a new justice to the New Hampshire Supreme court. Her nominee must fundamentally and demonstrably grasp both the rule of law and the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s power as co-equal to the New Hampshire Legislature and the executive branch. That is why, on July 8, Kent Street Coalition formally presented Gov. Ayotte with a series of questions, requesting her to obtain satisfactory responses from her nominee and to make those responses public to Granite Staters.

“Republicans in Congress have enabled President Trump to bypass legislative checks and oversight, and allowed him to openly disparage judicial decisions, putting the independence of the judiciary in jeopardy. Through threats of reprisal and acts of actual retribution, the President undermines public confidence in the courts and seeks to bend the courts’ functioning to his will. America is at risk of losing its constitutional form of government — government of, by and for the People. We are at risk of nullifying the rule of law.

“The rule of law is not simply an abstract legal ideal. It is the foundation that ensures no one, not even the President, is above the law. Through adherence to this principle, courts guarantee fair treatment, protect minority rights, and maintain societal order. The alternative is government by whim, retaliation, and corruption, which leads inevitably to the erosion of trust and the unraveling of democracy itself.

“Our Constitution creates three separate but co-equal branches of government for a reason. The judiciary’s role is not to serve as a functionary of the executive branch, but to interpret the law impartially, at times even in opposition to the preferences of powerful officials.

“History is replete with examples of governments that faltered because judges yielded to executive pressures. New Hampshire prides itself on strong, independent courts that dare to safeguard the rights of individuals and the prerogatives of the Legislature — even when confronted by executive overreach.

“Appointing a nominee with a proven record of reverence for the rule of law and a clear understanding of the judicial branch’s co-equal status is a critical counterweight in this challenging time. The questions that the Kent Street Coalition delivered to Gov. Ayotte were prepared with this objective in mind.

“The people of New Hampshire — and indeed, the entire country — are looking for reassurance that the ideals enshrined in our state and federal constitutions are alive and well.

“Gov. Ayotte has been a practicing attorney in New Hampshire for over 30 years and served as our attorney general. She knows what the rule of law means. She knows well the ideals enshrined in our state and federal constitutions. Gov. Ayotte’s nominee will reflect whether we remain resolutely committed to those ideals or whether we will allow them to erode beneath the weight of political expedience.