Confirm Kavanaugh.
I’m an immigrant, woman and young person in America, and I cannot think of a person I want on the Supreme Court of the United States more than Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
I am just as upset as many Democrats is about President Obama’s SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland’s seat being stolen. Unlike others, though, I am not upset about losing a “liberal” seat on the bench of the highest court of the land. I am upset about the way that the nomination and confirmation process of Supreme Court justices has become increasingly political and increasingly partisan. Over the past couple decades in particular, the Supreme Court has, as Senator Ben Sasse explained so well in his opening statement of the confirmation hearing, become “a substitute political battleground in America”. We have begun to view the judiciary not as independent, but rather yet another way for us to root for our “side”.
I am a firm believer that the judiciary shouldn’t be viewed as partisan. There are no Republican or Democrat judges, there are simply judges, whose only loyalties are to the Constitution of the United States. Once a Bush administration staffer and member of the Federalist Society, I strongly believe that Judge Kavanaugh does not let his personal policy views cloud his judgement in the courtroom. Despite the constant press coverage of Kavanaugh being an extremely conservative judge, the first day of the hearing manifested that truly just isn’t the case. In his line of questioning Wednesday, Senator Ted Cruz brought up a statistic that I found both fascinating and reassuring: Judge Kavanaugh voted with Garland, Obama’s nominee, a whopping 93% of the time during their time together on a DC federal appeals court. Further, Garland joined 27 out of 28 opinions written by Kavanaugh. That fact showed me, and should reveal to all people wanting to block his nomination, that Brett Kavanaugh is a judge that transcends political ideology, with a loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law above all else.
His qualification and independence was confirmed by the widespread respect he received from all sides of the political spectrum after the announcement of his nomination. From his Yale classmates to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to liberal lawyer and former Ruth Bader Ginsburg clerk Lisa Blatt, people who know Kavanaugh seem to agree that he is a family man, a man of character and should most definitely be confirmed as the next Supreme Court Justice of the United States.
Still, with this known recognition of independence, the left continues with fearmongering tactics, claiming the judge hates women, hates immigrants, doesn’t care for victims of gun violence. While these accusations are completely false and oftentimes silly, they’re working. Kavanaugh, although being highly qualified, has the lowest support rating for a judge since 1987, with more Americans (39%) saying he shouldn’t be confirmed than should (38%). Although a thin margin, this poll shows how consequential media portrayal of these hearings have been and will be. Because I watched the lines of questioning in their entirety, I’ve noticed that the opposition relies on omitting critical parts of context of his answers and only want to show the supposed “flubs” to get good soundbites they hope will go viral. In addition to the online attacks on Kavanaugh, his completely reasonable and carefully thought-out answers didn’t stop rowdy protesters from disrupting the hearing on a constant basis. I think it is clear that some on the opposition do not even want to listen to the nominee’s answers — only attack and obstruct.
What Kavanaugh actually said on Wednesday should have assured his skeptics on the two main issues of his confirmation: Roe v. Wade and executive power. On Roe, the most dramatized and heated of the supposed disagreements people have with Kavanaugh, he stated numerous times that it is “settled precedent” and has been “reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years”, notably in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. He did state that Casey allowed for reasonable regulations to abortion as stated in the opinion — but never said he would overturn that decision. The other hot-button issue of the hearing was Kavanaugh’s view on executive power. I’ll admit, before the hearing, this was the one issue that made me a little uneasy about putting him on the bench. But as mentioned previously, the coverage of this issue was so out of proportion to his actual comments. When clarified during the hearing, Kavanaugh repeatedly stated his position that “no one is above the law”, including the President of the United States. In fact, he cited United States v. Nixon as one of the greatest cases the Supreme Court has ever decided, showing that him being appointed by a certain president would not mean favoring that president.
Watching Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, you’ll see a man of great intelligence, integrity and most importantly, immense respect for precedent and the law of the land. If you’re still skeptical, I urge you to look more into Judge Kavanaugh’s record — but do so independently, not just trusting your senator’s or favorite news outlet’s findings, and you will most likely find the same thing.
Encourage your senators to restore norms and vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh: (202) 224–3121
