Tag: SCOTUS

Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh’s Responses Reveal Views

The following article by Todd Ruger was posted on the Roll Call website July 23, 2018:

Questionnaire part of confirmation process

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, right, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, conduct a photo-op in Russell Building before a meeting on July 17. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh described his volunteer work, his most important decisions and how President Donald Trump picked him in paperwork submitted as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation process.

The questionnaire is a standard part of the confirmation process, and nominees can use it to bolster their case. For instance, Kavanaugh, when asked to list his 10 most important decisions, listed nine cases in which the Supreme Court later agreed with the positions he took as a federal appeals court judge.

Kavanaugh included the 10th case, he said, “because of what it says about anti-discrimination law and American history.” It was his concurring opinion in a 2013 workplace discrimination case, and he told the committee he wrote that “calling someone the n-word, even once, creates a hostile work environment.”

View the complete article here.

Russian firm indicted in special counsel probe cites Kavanaugh decision to argue that charge should be dismissed

The following article by Robert Barnes was posted on the Washington Post website July 20, 2018:

The Post’s Robert Barnes explains some of the factors that could influence whether Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh is confirmed. (Video: Monica Akhtar/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

A Russian company accused by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III of being part of an online operation to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign is leaning in part on a decision by Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh to argue that the charge against it should be thrown out.

The 2011 decision by Kavanaugh, writing for a three-judge panel, concerned the role that foreign nationals may play in U.S. elections. It upheld a federal law that said foreigners temporarily in the country may not donate money to candidates, contribute to political parties and groups, or spend money advocating for or against candidates. But it did not rule out letting foreigners spend money on independent advocacy campaigns.

Kavanaugh “went out of his way to limit the decision,” said Daniel A. Petalas, a Washington lawyer and former interim general counsel for the Federal Election Commission.

View the complete article here.

NBC/WSJ Poll: Support for Roe v. Wade Hits New High

The following article by Carrie Dann was posted on the NBC News website July 23,2018:

A majority of Republicans — 52 percent — say the Supreme Court decision should not be overturned.

As President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick readies for his eventual confirmation hearing, support for the court’s landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade has hit an all-time high.

A new poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal finds that 71 percent of American voters believe that the decision, which established a woman’s legal right to an abortion, should not be overturned. Just 23 percent say the ruling should be reversed.

That’s the highest level of support for the decision — and the lowest share of voters who want Roe v. Wade overturned — in the poll’s history dating back to 2005. In 1989, according to Gallup’s survey, 58 percent said they believed it should stay in place while 31 percent disagreed.

View the complete article on the NBC News website here.

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh piled up credit card debt by purchasing Nationals tickets, White House says

The following article by Amy Brittain was posted on the Washington Post website July 11, 2018:

The Post’s Robert Barnes explains some of the factors that could influence whether Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh is confirmed. (Video: Monica Akhtar/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets, according to a review of Kavanaugh’s financial disclosures and information provided by the White House.

White House spokesman Raj Shah told The Washington Post that Kavanaugh built up the debt by buying Washington Nationals season tickets and tickets for playoff games for himself and a “handful” of friends. Shah said some of the debts were also for home improvements.

In 2016, Kavanaugh reported having between $60,000 and $200,000 in debt accrued over three credit cards and a loan. Each credit card held between $15,000 and $50,000 in debt, and a Thrift Savings Plan loan was between $15,000 and $50,000.

View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.

Will Kavanaugh Make Trump a Monarch?

The following article by Joe Conason was posted on the Creators.com website July 11, 2018:

Credit: Associated Press

To Donald Trump, the qualifications of any individual for a seat on the nation’s highest court are meaningless. He knows nothing of judicial decisions except Roe v. Wade, the reproductive rights precedent that his supporters want overturned. He has no idea how to assess any judge, beyond his own superficial impressions. He could scarcely care less what any potential nominee may think about the law — with one important exception.

That exception brought us Brett Kavanaugh, winner of Trump’s Supreme Court sweepstakes, and an advocate of executive immunity from precisely the kind of investigations and lawsuits that now threaten this president.

Naturally, Kavanaugh displays all the right (and far-right) credentials, including a Yale law degree, a career dedication to the Federalist Society, and a lifetime of activism in the Republican Party, as well as a current position on the prestigious Second Circuit Court of Appeals. As Democratic senators warn, he can be expected to vote consistently to please his party’s major donors on everything from health care to voting rights. He probably hasn’t changed his mind on any public issue since college.

View the complete article on the Creators.com website here.

Showdown on a Trump Subpoena Could Overshadow Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Image

The following article by Adam Liptak was posted on the New York Times website July 10, 2018:

Judge Brett Kavanaugh visited the Capitol with Vice President Pence, has expressed deep skepticism of the wisdom of forcing a sitting president to answer questions in criminal cases.Credit: Lawrence Jackson for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — It is not every day that a potential constitutional showdown over a presidential subpoena coincides with a confirmation hearing for a crucial Supreme Court seat. Less likely yet is a nominee who has written extensively about the very question at the heart of the dispute.

But that novel historical moment is here.

“It is not at all far-fetched to think that the question of whether President Trump must respond to a subpoena could come before the Supreme Court shortly after the confirmation process,” said Walter Dellinger, who served as acting United States solicitor general in the Clinton administration.

View the complete article on the New York Times website here.

Poll: Majority wants next justice to support abortion rights

The following article by Steven Shepard was posted on the Politico website July 3, 2018:

While Anthony Kennedy’s replacement could shift the court on a wide range of issues, most of the early questions for senators who will weigh the nomination have centered around abortion. Credit: John Shinkle, POLITICO

A majority of voters want the next Supreme Court justice to support abortion rights, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted in the immediate wake of Anthony Kennedy’s retirement announcement last week.

With the prospect that President Donald Trump’s pending pick to replace Kennedy could join with the existing four justices appointed by Republican presidents to overturn Roe v. Wade, 52 percent of voters say they hope the new justice supports a woman’s right to an abortion.

Twenty-nine percent say they hope the new justice opposes abortion rights, while the remaining 19 percent don’t know or have no opinion.

View the complete post on the Politico website here.

Supreme Court nominee has argued presidents should not be distracted by investigations and lawsuits

The following article by Michael Kranish and Ann E. Marimow was posted on the Washington Post website July 9, 2018:

Brett Kavanaugh accepted President Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court July 9, after Justice Kennedy announced his retirement in June. (The Washington Post)

U.S. Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy who was nominated replace him, has argued that presidents should not be distracted by civil lawsuits, criminal investigations or even questions from a prosecutor or defense attorney while in office.

Kavanaugh had direct personal experience that informed his 2009 article for the Minnesota Law Review: He helped investigate President Bill Clinton as part of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s team and then served for five years as a close aide to President George W. Bush.

Having observed the weighty issues that can consume a president, Kavanaugh wrote, the nation’s chief executive should be exempt from “time-consuming and distracting” lawsuits and investigations, which “would ill serve the public interest, especially in times of financial or national security crisis.”

View the full article on the Washington Post website.

The Supreme Court’s Right Turn

The following article by Joseph P. Williams was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website June 29, 2018:

Justice Kennedy’s retirement cements the high court’s shift to the right – perhaps for generations.

Credit:
Carlos Barria/Reuters

AS USUAL, THIS YEAR’S Supreme Court term had a slow start, with liberals and conservatives reaching consensus on controversial issues, if not avoiding them entirely. But in a dead sprint to the finish line, the high court’s conservative majority triggered a series of unexpected shock waves and gave the nation a glimpse of the future.

The bloc led by Chief Justice John Roberts, and anchored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court’s newest, most conservative member, swept aside progressive arguments (and its own precedents) to defang public-sector labor unions, support “pregnancy crisis centers” that steer women from abortions and uphold what opponents call politically-rigged voting districts. Continue reading “The Supreme Court’s Right Turn”

What We Know about Trump’s SCOTUS Pick

Credit: Associated Press

Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Kavanaugh, is a threat to Americans’ health care and women’s rights. If confirmed, he will be an extremist on the Supreme Court bench, where he will be able to carry out a far-right agenda long after Trump leaves office.

This is the most consequential Supreme Court nomination in a generation and will affect monumental decisions made for the next half century. It could roll back women’s rights, and the right to affordable and accessible health care, for decades to come.

We know Kavanaugh will overturn Roe v. Wade and gut the Affordable Care Act, because Trump himself said these would be litmus tests for his nominee. Continue reading “What We Know about Trump’s SCOTUS Pick”