Kavanaugh Lifetime Appointment: The Full Story & What's At Stake, Wash Post
*Issues for Brett Kavanaugh: The President Who Chose Him And the Supreme Court He Would Change* By Robert Barnes, The Washington Post, Sept. 2, 2018.
Two factors animate U.S. Appeals Court Judge Brett M. Kavanaughs crucial Supreme Court confirmation hearings that begin Tuesday in the Senate: one is the justice he would succeed, and the other is the president who chose him.
A host of issues are at stake with the departure of the courts pivotal justice, Anthony M. Kennedy, whose swing-vote jurisprudence did not fit neatly into a conservative or liberal box. Abortion, affirmative action, the interplay of religious beliefs and gay rights, and the governments protection of the environment are among the issues affected by Kennedys departure, and Kavanaugh is likely to be to the right of Kennedy on all.
But this confirmation fight also comes as the powers of a special prosecutor to investigate President Trump are part of a national debate, with important constitutional decisions on executive power and prerogative possibly awaiting the high court. The politics of the Trump age only add to the battle over a judge whose lifetime appointment could seal a consistently right-leaning majority that the conservative legal movement has long labored to establish.
This is an appointment that almost certainly will change the ideological makeup of the court in a meaningful way, said Lori A. Ringhand, a University of Georgia law professor with an expertise in Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Kavanaugh, 53, has a unique perspective on the issue of investigating the president. He spent years working for Kenneth Starr on the probe of President Bill Clinton, taking a hard line on what he termed Clintons lies and pattern of revolting behavior in connection with Clintons relationship with a White House intern. But Kavanaugh has since written he believes a president should not be distracted by civil suits and criminal investigations while in office.
If Kavanaughs view is nuanced hes never said the Constitution prohibits such investigations reaction from Democrats has been simple enough to fit in a tweet. Such as this one by Sen. Kamala D. Harris, the Democrat from California who will be among those on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioning Kavanaugh: The president is an unindicted co-conspirator in federal crimes and he has nominated someone to the Supreme Court who believes a sitting president should never be indicted."..
Democrats are far from over Republican efforts that denied President Barack Obamas nominee Merrick Garland even a hearing in what would have been an appointment that would have moved the court in a different direction. Obama nominated Garland like Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to fill the spot of the late justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative stalwart. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to consider the nomination until after the election, and his gamble paid off with Trumps victory.
Liberal interest groups and Democrats also object to Kavanaughs nomination on both process and substance. Only a portion of records amassed from Kavanaughs more than five years in President George W. Bushs White House, as staff secretary, have been requested by Senate Republicans, and even those are being screened by Bushs lawyer, who represents, among others, White House counsel Donald McGahn.
Beyond that, Kavanaughs opponents say the importance of replacing the courts pivotal justice requires an examination of not just credentials but judicial philosophy and ideology.. Abortion rights supporters and those opposed expect Kavanaugh would be a justice in the same vein, forming a majority with fellow conservatives Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas that would make it more difficult for a woman to obtain the procedure..
Beyond Kavanaughs judicial opinions, Democrats will press his views on past writings and comments that could have a bearing on special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation of the Trump administration and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Read More, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/issues-for-brett-kavanaugh-the-president-who-chose-him-and-the-supreme-court-he-would-change/ar-BBMKuVW
*Note: "Did You Go to a Washington Nationals Game With Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh?" ProPublica, Aug. 13, 2018. https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/brett-kavanaugh-nationals-baseball-supreme-court
CrispyQ
(36,509 posts)appalachiablue
(41,171 posts)appalachiablue
(41,171 posts)*The president is an unindicted co-conspirator in federal crimes and he has nominated someone to the Supreme Court who believes a sitting president should never be indicted."*
still_one
(92,394 posts)be greatly restricted.
While most of us here are rightfully angry, none of us should be surprised.
What did those self-identified progressives who refused to vote for the Democratic nominee by either not voting or voting third party think would happen?
When 47% couldn't trouble themselves to even vote, this was bound to happen
FakeNoose
(32,748 posts)... because they're really not against abortion, they just don't want the federal government to pay for them. I believe most of the bible-thumpers can see that there are at least some circumstances, where an abortion would be better than any other available alternative. If Roe v.Wade does get restrictions by SCOTUS in the future, at least we can be pretty sure it won't be struck down altogether. We Democrats will just have to keep working to swing the pendulum back the other way.
What really concerns me about Kavanaugh is his potential vote on a future Trump-Russia case, or some other case involving Trump or his group. If Kavanaugh does't recuse, I will start actively campaigning for HIS impeachment.
Behind the Aegis
(53,986 posts)While attacks on women will undoubtedly happen, and restrictions to Roe V. Wade would occur, it will be the GLBT community which will suffer. First, they will likely push to overturn marriage equality, after all it was passed under Obama. Then, will come the "religious freedom" bullshit. In actuality, I would not be surprised if anti-gay sodomy laws, (Lawrence V. Texas), got nixed. The real problem is most people won't give a shit. Our rights will be obliterated and people will sit by and say NOTHING! There won't be throngs of people out protesting, there won't be marches of outrage, there will a deafening silence from the majority. We will be the first group to fall.