On October 6, 2018, the U.S. Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court despite credible, powerful allegations of sexual assault. The vote came on the heels of a partisan display by Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings in which he put forward conspiracy theories that echoed his long career in conservative politics. His appearance drew more than 80 serious ethics complaints that were dismissed only because lower court judges do not have the legal authority to discipline Supreme Court justices. Recently, new information has come to light strongly indicating that little to no meaningful investigation by the Senate or the FBI into Kavanaugh’s past occurred after the allegations were made—underscoring the troubling nature of his nomination—despite claims to the contrary from the administration and his supporters in the Senate.
But Kavanaugh is not an anomaly; rather, he embodies major issues with regard to conservative court packing and a lack of ethical oversight within the entire judiciary—issues that necessitate reforms. So, while Kavanaugh and his confirmation process should be the focus of robust oversight, policymakers must also direct their efforts to fixing accountability issues within the federal judiciary as a whole that damage the institution’s legitimacy.
Conservative court packing
For decades, conservatives have worked in concert with wealthy donors to develop a pipeline of ideologically conservative jurists prepared to assert their ideology and life experiences over the law. In recent years, the impact of this work has multiplied thanks to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) subversion of long-held procedures in order to pack the courts with ideologically conservative judges.
View the complete October 1 article by Maggie Jo Buchanan and Abbey Meller on the Center for American Progress website here.