By Layla Wofsy ’19
Even-tempered, trustworthy, intellectual, modest and respectful are all qualities that our current Supreme Court justices possess. And these are all the characteristics that Brett Kavanaugh severely lacks.
Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to the Supreme Court and has since faced accusations of sexual assault by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and two other women. Whether or not you believe Ford’s allegations, the fact that he does not possess the right characteristics to sit on the Bench should be reason enough for his nomination to be rescinded.
It is debatable if the Supreme Court can actually function entirely independent from political influences; however, nominees should not outwardly cite unconfirmed conspiracy theories, which is what Kavanaugh did during his hearing.
In his opening statement he claimed that the hearings were a political sham created by the Democratic Party, working with the Clintons and other liberal organizations, due to anger about the results of the 2016 election. Not only have the claims in his statement remained unsubstantiated, but he has further established that his loyalty lies solely in the Republican Party, even before he steps onto the Court.
Kavanaugh also denied any allegations of his excessive drinking; however, many of his high school classmates have told The New York Times that Kavanaugh “was a heavy drinker in college,” and many described him as being “inherently drunk.”
His calendar from 1982 even shows that he and his friend Mark Judge had met with friends to drink beer together. Simply drinking cannot send someone to jail; however, this evidence proves that Kavanaugh lied during the hearing, and perjury is a federal offence.
Of similar concern is Kavanaugh’s hypocrisy. After watching the hearings, I did some research and found that in 2016 when Kavanaugh was on the D.C. Circuit he wrote that a lie detector test was an “important law enforcement tool.” But now he has opted against taking one, even after Ford agreed to and passed the test.
According to The New York Times, Kavanaugh now claims that lie detecting tests can’t be used in federal court because they’re unreliable. It is one thing for him to believe that the tests are not strong enough to be used in court; however, it is another thing for him to be inconsistent on the issue as soon as it relates to his statement.
One of my final, but major, concerns regards Kavanaugh’s behavior during the hearings. It alarmed me to see that within a mere 20 minutes, he was belligerent and aggressively denying all of the allegations against him.
Furthermore, it was obvious that Kavanaugh avoided answering many of the questions and numerous times he just repeated the same answer. He also regularly dodged questions, including ones referencing his high school yearbook and whether or not the book character named “Bart O’ Kavanaugh,”who spent his school years partying and drinking, was named after him, by focusing instead on his success in high school and college.
Contrastingly, Ford made an effort to answer every question that was thrown at her by a panel of mostly white, Republican males.
Ultimately, the allegations, if true, are horrible. However, if in the end it is reduced to a “he said, she said,” debate, it is crucial that we look at all additional evidence that could disprove many of the other statements that Kavanaugh made during the hearings. Someone who is biased even before being on the Court, outwardly lies, is hypocritical, and clearly unable to sit through a hearing without losing their temper, is in no way fit to be a Supreme Court justice.
