On Saturday, Oct. 6, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 50-48, allowing him to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. This vote comes after a vicious confirmation battle in the Senate Judiciary Committee involving multiple allegations of sexual assault against the nominee. However, despite this, Brett Kavanaugh will now sit on the nation’s highest court for the rest of his life. But what does this mean?
The Supreme Court of the United States, commonly referred to as SCOTUS decides what is constitutional and what is not in America. They do not set laws; they simply determine if laws and policies are in line with what the founding fathers say in the Constitution. For example, in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that the United States does not have the right to criminalize or restrict abortions. This result did not come because of the judges’ opinions on abortion, but because they believe in the 14th Amendment to protect those health rights.
This separation is an important distinction to remember, as the Supreme Court is not trying criminals in court or making laws. They are simply deciding if an action in the nation is constitutional, and if it is not, they forbid it from happening. Another example came in 2015 with Obergefell v. Hodges, where the Supreme Court ruled that under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment: the fundamental right to marriage is guaranteed to same-sex couples.
The Supreme Court has nine judges, and of those nine a majority need to decide on a case to select it. In a perfect world, these Supreme Court judges do not put their politics into their decisions, but in actuality, this rarely happens. This is why there is such a fight for these positions from both sides, as both Republicans and Democrats want judges that will make choices that they want.
This is particularly important this time around, as President Trump has said repeatedly that he will nominate a candidate who will help appeal Roe V. Wade to criminalize abortions in America once again.
Another important thing to consider on the Supreme Court is the weight of which sides have how many seats. On the current court, with Kavanaugh, there are five conservative judges and four liberals. With this majority, any conservative case that comes through can easily get passed. For example, the overturning of Roe V. Wade, or cases about the role of religion in the government.
But with knowing how the Supreme Court works, what does this mean now that Kavanaugh has a seat? To begin, any issues that Kavanaugh is particularly involved in have a better chance of being seen, and once they are seen, there’s a better chance of them passing in the way Kavanaugh wants. Once again, to go back to the abortion example, Kavanaugh has previously ruled in favor of abortion restrictions in Azar v. Garza and also ruled that an illegal immigrant minor could be prevented from receiving an abortion while a refugee. This opinion on abortion is likely one of the factors that earned Kavanaugh his nomination from Trump, who has used abortion has a big campaign issue.
Another issue that Kavanaugh has experience in is the Second Amendment and gun control. In 2011, Kavanaugh dissented when the court he was sitting on found a ban of semi-automatic rifles to be permissible under the Second Amendment. So if a case about the Second Amendment were to reach the Supreme Court, it is obvious how Kavanaugh would swing.
Kavanaugh is also known for writing an article in 2009 where he stated that sitting presidents should be exempt from civil lawsuits while in office. This is noteworthy as Donald Trump is currently in a position where he could very likely be the basis of a lawsuit any day now by any number of people, and if these were to reach the Supreme Court Kavanaugh would likely “have Trump’s back.”
Kavanaugh is replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was widely known as the swing vote on the court. While Kennedy was conservative, there were times when he swung in the other way, such as when he was the swing vote in Obergefell v. Hodges. However, with Kennedy’s retirement and Kavanaugh’s appointment, this transition from a swing to a very hard conservative has shifted the court very hard to the right. This change has many liberals in America and Congress worried that some milestone cases could be stripped away now, such as Roe v. Wade, Obergefell v. Hodges and other social issues such as recreational marijuana, the death penalty,and transgender rights.
Of course, it is impossible not to mention that Kavanaugh also has a myriad of sexual assault allegations against him. Most famously from Dr. Christine Ford, these allegations come from his high school and college days, saying that he took advantage of women, spiked drinks at parties and forcefully held women against walls.
However, these allegations were not enough to stop Congress from confirming him 50-48. President Trump also openly mocked Ford at a campaign rallying, leading to cheers and laughter from the crowd as he mocked her memory and testimony. Ford’s family is still not back in their home due to the unending death threats against her, yet Trump has the audacity to say that Kavanaugh’s life is ruined when he’s now one of the most powerful people in the country.
Despite the obvious sexual assault allegations, there are two other problems with Kavanaugh’s appointment: his partisanship and his demeanor during the Senate hearings. During the Senate hearings, Kavanaugh repeatedly said that the sexual assault allegations against him were a conspiracy theory from the liberal democrats to get him to withdraw his nomination or to get him denied by Senate. If Kavanaugh truly believes this, how will he ever give a liberal case coming in front of the Supreme Court the due process it deserves? He has an obvious bias against Democrats when he is on the stand screaming about them.
This leads to another point, where he was screaming and having a breakdown at the hearings. Compared to Ford, who was calm and collected as she recounted a traumatic experience that happened to her, Kavanaugh was screaming and crying at the top of his lungs while he ranted about his alcohol of choice and the Democrats. Is this behavior fitting of someone who gets to sit on the most prestigious court in the country, and probably the world?
The decisions that are made by the Supreme Court affect the entire globe, not just America. Knowing this, we should put only our best on the Supreme Court, not someone who takes seven FBI investigations, four women coming against him with sexual assault allegations and nationwide protests to be appointed.
Unfortunately, Kavanaugh is only 53, and since Supreme Court Judges serve for life, he has the chance to sit on the court for 30 or more years. Hopefully, this masquerade does not happen again, and if more evidence against Kavanaugh is exposed then the problem can be fixed with the legal system.
