Tag: SCOTUS

Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Miss Arguments Following Lung Cancer Procedure

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by Kevin Daley   Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg missed oral arguments Monday as she recuperates from cancer surgery. It’s not clear when the 85-year-old justice will return to work, though the Supreme Court’s public information office said she will continue to participate in official business from her home in Washington. Despite Ginsburg’s absence, a Court spokeswoman said the justice would participate in Monday’s cases by reading transcripts of the proceedings, then voting as normal. Monday is the first time that Ginsburg has missed arguments since she joined the high court in 1993. Surgeons at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York removed two cancerous nodules from Ginsburg’s lungs on Dec. 21. She was discharged on Dec. 26. The justice’s doctors said the surgery was successful and there are no signs of disease elsewhere in her body. The growths were detected when Ginsburg was hospitalized for a rib fracture in November 2018. On that occasion, the justice fell in her chambers and was admitted to a Washington-area hospital after experiencing discomfort in her chest. In a public appearance just days before December’s procedure, Ginsburg said her health was “fine”, and made no mention of the pending surgery. The justice has been diagnosed…

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Justice Ginsburg Has Surgery to Remove Cancerous Growths

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery Friday to remove two malignant growths in her left lung, the Supreme Court said. It is the 85-year-old Ginsburg’s third bout with cancer since joining the court in 1993. Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York found “no evidence of any remaining disease” and scans taken before the surgery showed no cancerous growths elsewhere in her body, the court said in a statement. No additional treatment is currently planned, the court said. Ginsburg, who leads the court’s liberal wing, is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days, the court said. The growths were found during tests Ginsburg had after she fractured ribs in a fall in her Supreme Court office on Nov. 7. The court’s oldest justice had surgery for colorectal cancer in 1999 and pancreatic cancer 10 years later. Among other health problems, she also broke two ribs in a fall in 2012 and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. She was hospitalized after a bad reaction to medicine in 2009. Ginsburg has never missed Supreme Court arguments in more than 25 years on the bench. The court won’t hear arguments again…

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Mueller and Manafort Have a Lot Riding on a Supreme Court Double Jeopardy Case

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by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court appeared skeptical Thursday of overturning an exception to the Constitution’s double jeopardy prohibition, which allows state and federal prosecutors to bring successive prosecutions for the same offense. The case is carefully followed in Washington because of its potential ramifications for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “The notion that the federal government would step in and prosecute a defendant after a state jury acquitted him of the same offense would have shocked the founding generation,” one of the briefs at the high court reads. Thursday’s case arose in Alabama, when Terence Gamble was arrested during a 2015 traffic stop after police recovered two baggies of marijuana and a 9mm handgun from his car. State prosecutors charged Gamble, a convicted felon, for illegal possession of a firearm. A federal charge for the same crime followed. The so-called separate-sovereigns doctrine allows state and federal courts to prosecute individuals for the same offense, double jeopardy notwithstanding. The question in Thursday’s case was whether that rule should be overturned. That move could hinder the Mueller probe, should President Donald Trump choose to pardon aides and associates who the special counsel has since indicted. Since the president can only issue…

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Brett Kavanaugh Keeping a Low Profile in His First Months as a Justice

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by Kevin Daley   Justice Brett Kavanaugh seems to be keeping a low profile in his first months on the U.S. Supreme Court after his bitter confirmation inflamed much of the public and recast the 2018 elections. The new justice’s approach to his first months on the high court is in marked contrast to President Donald Trump’s other appointee, Justice Neil Gorsuch. The justices have done their best to project normalcy since Kavanaugh’s confirmation. The panel was especially lighthearted during his first day on the bench, as when Justice Sonia Sotomayor turned and pinched Gorsuch while posing a hypothetical about the term “violent felony” within the meaning of a federal sentencing law. Gorsuch reacted with good-natured surprise, eliciting laughter from the courtroom audience. Kavanaugh himself has been an understated presence at oral arguments, clearly engaged but deferential to his colleagues. As a general matter, he has waited for the other justices to ask their questions before posing his own, and his inquiries have been largely confined to technical matters. He did, however, appear to break type in a Nov. 6 death penalty case, signaling concern that Missouri’s death penalty protocol could inflict “gruesome and brutal pain” on an elderly convict. Kavanaugh was…

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Ranchers and Native Americans Battle at Supreme Court Over Hunting Rights

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by Tim Pearce   A coalition of agricultural interests is backing the state of Wyoming in a Supreme Court Case over the hunting rights of Crow tribal members from a 150-year-old treaty. Eight agricultural groups filed a motion in support of Wyoming on Tuesday for arresting a tribal member, Clayvin Herrera, after he and several other Native Americans killed elk in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest in 2014. Herrera sued the state, claiming a right to hunt on “unoccupied” federal land secured in a 19th century treaty between the U.S. and the tribe. “We are not seeking to overturn the hunting rights the Crow Tribe reserved in their treaty with the United States,” Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) attorney Cody Wisniewski said in a statement. “Quite the contrary, we are just asking the Court to treat the right as the both the tribe and United States understood it in 1868.” MSLF is representing the agricultural groups Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Wyoming Wool Growers Association, Montana Farm Bureau Federation, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Colorado Farm Bureau Federation and South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association. Herrera’s case against Wyoming rests on the meaning of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty that set up the…

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McConnell Says Confirming Judges Will Be His ‘Top Priority’

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by Rachel del Guidice   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says his “top priority” for the rest of the year and into the new Congress is filling the judiciary with President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees. “The president, I think, has done an excellent job in picking young men and women who believe the job of the judge is to follow the law and we intend to keep confirming as many as we possibly can as long as we are in a position to do it,” McConnell said Wednesday at a press conference. “It’ll still be my top priority in setting the agenda here in the Senate,” McConnell said. McConnell also said that the Senate has been successful in making two Supreme Court appointments and 29 circuit judges, adding that, “we’re not through doing those this year.”While not all Senate races are settled, Republicans are poised to pick up two seats in the Senate. John G. Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government and director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in an email that McConnell is correct to set his sights on judicial confirmations.…

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Here Are Three Cases to Watch at the Supreme Court

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by Elizabeth Slattery and Ashley Vaughan   The Supreme Court is back in session after a two-week break. The justices will hear arguments in a number of important cases, including ones dealing with coercive class-action settlements, using hovercrafts for moose hunting in Alaska, and Virginia’s ban on uranium mining. Here are three cases to watch closely in the coming weeks. Frank v. Gaos Is it fair for the majority of a class-action settlement to go to third-party recipients with ties to the defendant and the class attorneys? That’s what a district court approved in a suit alleging that Google violated users’ privacy when it disclosed users’ search terms to third parties. Google agreed to settle the case for $8.5 million, with more than $2 million going to the class attorneys, $1 million paying for administrative costs and “incentive payments” for the named plaintiffs, and the vast majority—over $5 million—going to third-party recipients. The federal district court, and then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on appeal, authorized this settlement because it would be impractical to distribute settlement funds to a class with an estimated 129 million members. These courts followed a doctrine known as cy pres, which…

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Dr. Carol Swain Commentary: The War Against Conservative Supreme Court Justices

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by Dr. Carol M. Swain   Supreme Court justices need secret service protection now more than ever. The Left would like to remove Justices Kavanaugh and Thomas.  Their goal is to gain control of the Court using any means necessary. On October 6, the day of the Senate vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Charlie Savage, writing for The New York Times, discussed liberal strategies for gaining control of the Court. Acknowledging that the Supreme Court would be controlled by a conservative majority for the foreseeable future, Savage reported, “Liberals have already started to attack the legitimacy of the majority bloc and discussed ways to eventually undo its power without waiting for one of its members to retire or die.” One idea is to regain control of the of the government in 2020 and have a liberal president increase the number of Supreme Court justices to create a liberal majority.  Another scheme is to find a means to “impeach, remove and replace Justice Kavanaugh,” as well as Justice Thomas.    Currently, there is a petition with over 47,000 signatures to impeach Thomas.  In the past, opportunities to fill Supreme Court seats depended on the death…

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SCOTUS Puts the Brakes on Kids’ Climate Lawsuit Against the Government

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by Chris White   Supreme Court Justice John Roberts granted the Trump administration a stay Friday night in a climate lawsuit several young people leveled against the government. The Trump administration repeatedly asked both the SCOTUS and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the trial through a writ of mandamus, a rarely used judicial tool allowing a higher court to overrule a lower court before a verdict is made. Roberts granted mandamus after the 9th Circuit twice turned down the writ. The 21 plaintiffs, all between the ages of 11 and 22, are arguing that federal officials violated their due process rights by allowing the fossil fuel industry to release greenhouse gas emissions, despite knowing for years that such emissions can cause climate change. The plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring the federal government to implement an “enforceable national remedial plan” phasing out carbon emissions in an effort to stabilize the climate and protect the environment. Their case — Juliana v. United States — has survived several attempts by the government to torpedo the case after it was originally filed in 2015. Attorneys for the defendants said they believe the case will eventually move forward. “We are confident once Chief Justice Roberts and the full…

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SCOTUS Clears the Way For Voter ID Requirement In Key Senate Race

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by Kevin Daley   The U.S. Supreme Court will allow a North Dakota law requiring voters to produce government ID with a current residential street address when casting ballots to take effect. The decision, which came Tuesday and drew a brief dissent, will effect one November’s most critical Senate races. A group of American Indians challenged the residential street address requirement, arguing that it imposes “impossible and severe burdens on the franchise for Native American voters,” as many live on reservations or otherwise lack ordinary street addresses. A federal judge agreed and prohibited the law. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted that order, so the plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to restore the injunction. North Dakota argues that the law protects the integrity of the ballot box and improves the administration of elections — the state’s filing at the high court notes there were over 800 different ballots used in the state during the 2016 election cycle, which are assigned on the basis of address. The Supreme Court’s Tuesday order allowed the law to take effect for the general election. As is typical of orders of this nature, neither the vote count nor the reasoning was disclosed. Justice…

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Minnesota Teacher Placed on Paid Leave After Calling for Murder of Kavanaugh

Anthony Gockowski

A Minnesota public school teacher is now under investigation after calling for the murder of newly-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The teacher, identified on social media as Samantha Ness, works for Intermediate School District #917’s Alliance Education Center, which “provides services to all students with unique needs,” including children with autism, cognitive disabilities, emotional behavior disorders, and more. “So whose [sic] gonna take one for the team and kill Kavanaugh?” Ness tweeted over the weekend, but has since deleted her Facebook and Twitter. Screen grabs of her social media accounts, however, show that she started at her teaching position in April, while pictures she posted to Twitter confirmed her identity. https://twitter.com/pahubb43/status/1049143893743296512 Additionally, the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board confirms that Ness is a licensed teacher in the state and a graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato. Before deleting her Twitter account, Ness went on to write that “Kavanaugh will be dealing with death threats for the rest of his life being on the Supreme Court,” so she doubts her “mid-west ass is a real threat,” according to archives of her account. On Monday, her employer announced that it has “received a complaint regarding an employee” who has…

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Kavanaugh Confirmed!

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Brett Kavanaugh

by Kevin Daley The Senate confirmed Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court Saturday afternoon, securing a conservative majority on the nation’s highest judicial tribunal. Kavanaugh’s confirmation concludes an agonizing nomination process, which in stretches pertained as much to visceral feelings about identity, violence and fairness as to the high court. The final vote was 50 to 48. GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the lone Republican to oppose Kavanaugh, voted “present,” ensuring the other absent lawmaker, GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, would not have to leave his daughter’s wedding in Bozeman to cast a decisive vote for the judge. GOP Rep. Greg Gianforte lent Daines the use of his private plane in the event he would have to return to Washington, should a slim margin require his presence. Among those present in the chamber for the vote was Debra Katz, an attorney who represents Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault dating back to when the two were minors. Vice President Mike Pence presided over the Senate during Saturday’s proceedings. Chief Justice John Roberts will privately swear Kavanaugh in as a justice at the Court on Saturday night. There are generally two swearing-in ceremonies…

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Commentary: The Battle of Brett Kavanaugh

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by Michael Walsh   As the smoke starts to clear over the senatorial battlefield, the outlines of the conflict have come into stark relief. What began, like Gettysburg, with the accidental clash of two mighty armies, has become a death struggle between the reactionary forces of cultural-Marxist leftism in their purest, most deracinated form, and the restorative powers of the American Republic-as-founded, including the rule of law, the presumption of innocence, and the orderly workings of our constitutional government. It’s a fight only one side can win, and it had better be ours. The Pickett’s Charge of the Left came last week, with an all-out assault (to use the feminist Left’s current mot du jour) on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s record, morals, life, and future. Pinning their hopes on the plainly insincere and deceptive testimony of a fabulist—what, in fact, was “credible” about Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony?—the Left augmented her baseless charges against the judge by quickly moving the goalposts from an alleged “attempted rape” to an indictment of the radicals’ favorite bugbear, the Privileged White Male Patriarchy. Marked by their usual crude reductionism of a human being to a bloody fanged Marxist stereotype, the Democrats stripped Kavanaugh of his humanity, hurled unsubstantiated accusationswith…

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Commentary: A Vote Against Kavanaugh is a Vote for Mob Rule

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by Rick Manning   The Senate must not to cave into mob rule and instead must support confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. If the Senate votes against Judge Kavanaugh it will be assenting to mob rule to take down President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, not because of veracity of the allegations made against him or whether they could ever be proven beyond a reasonable doubt but because of the politics of the moment. In the past, judges and justices were examined by the Senate on the basis of qualifications. Unfortunately the current process has become purely political, with a ratcheting up of the politics of personal destruction to defeat nominees as seen in the cases of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. Because of these unsubstantiated allegations, Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation has become one of the most divisive in our nation’s history as a fervent mob is demanding that we destroy Kavanaugh and his entire life without any proof, beyond a single person’s statement, to say he committed the actions he is accused of. It is alarming that Senate Democrats have not already rejected the mob rule that is at the heart of the Kavanaugh opposition,…

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Commentary: Republicans Must Nationalize The Election On Kavanaugh Confirmation

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by CHQ Staff   Prior to the middle of September, the Republican establishment was struggling to find a message that would motivate the Trump coalition to turn out for the November midterm election. However, the Democrats have now handed the GOP a national issue that has quickly proven it will motivate voters to shift to Republican Senate candidates: the confirmation of the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. In the key Senate match-up between incumbent Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp and challenger Republican congressman Kevin Cramer, Heitkamp is down 10 points in the latest NBC North Dakota News – Strategic Research Associates (SRA) poll. According to the poll, Cramer leads Heitkamp 51 percent to 41 percent. Eight percent have yet to make up their mind. According to NBC North Dakota News, sixty percent of voters in North Dakota support Kavanaugh with 27 percent expressing opposition. The poll was conducted during the recent disclosure that Kavanaugh may have engaged in sexual misconduct while in high school and college, but before the Sept. 27 testimony by Kavanaugh and one of his accusers before the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to the poll, an overwhelmingly 21 percent of North Dakota voters say…

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Commentary: Make Thursday A National Day Of Prayer For Brett Kavanaugh And Family

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Brett Kavanaugh, Mike Pence

by George Rasley   Throughout the ordeal of his confirmation millions of Americans have been praying for Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his family. President Trump made the point that prayer was a necessary element of the battle to confirm Judge Kavanaugh in a September 25 tweet: The Democrats are playing a high level CON GAME in their vicious effort to destroy a fine person. It is called the politics of destruction. Behind the scene the Dems are laughing. Pray for Brett Kavanaugh and his family! The Democrats are playing a high level CON GAME in their vicious effort to destroy a fine person. It is called the politics of destruction. Behind the scene the Dems are laughing. Pray for Brett Kavanaugh and his family! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018 And it was not just the President who has been urging prayer for Judge Kavanaugh and his family. Political Commentator and Analyst @RyanAFournier tweeted to his over 500,000 Twitter followers: It takes a lot for a grown man, with a long & successful career in the judicial system, to choke up after every single word while in-front of millions on national TV. We need to continue to pray…

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Sen. Lamar Alexander Tells Tennessee Star Report Vote on Kavanaugh Will Be Held This Week

Julie Carr

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the men talked with Senator Lamar Alexander about getting the vote finalized after a seventh FBI investigation into Judge Kavanaugh is completed so that they can confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. “Well, Senator McConnell is determined to have the vote this week so we’ll get the FBI look at Judge Kavanaugh over the last 26 years.  We’ll see if it says what it said before.  We’ll have a day or two to read it, and then we’ll vote.  And so yes, I believe a vote will be this week sometime, maybe Friday or Saturday, but it will be this week,” Alexander said. At the beginning of the segment, Alexander commented in dismay regarding the issue of fairness and how the destruction of Kavanaugh’s reputation, which was excellent up until only ten days ago, has effected the nominee. “What people are overlooking is Judge Kavanaugh has been subjected to six background checks over the last 26 years in connection with the various federal positions he has.  And those background checks are extensive. The…

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Commentary: Republicans Learning the Hard Way a Great Economy Ain’t Enough Anymore

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by Jeffery Rendall   In the 2016 presidential election’s stretch run Hillary Clinton famously asked during an interview, “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead?” American voters knew the answer and shared it with the former first lady and legacy Democrat presidential candidate on Election Day. Clinton did end up a couple points ahead (in terms of popular vote) but was way behind where it counted — in the Electoral College. By posing the ridiculous query Hillary exposed the severe case of denial she and all Democrats brought with them into the voting booth on November 8 of that year. The minority party’s collective fit continues to this day, most recently displayed by the Democrats’ heinous treatment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation process. Party members must go to sleep at night wondering, “What Happened?”, but until Democrats actually face reality their disorder will endure. For his part now-President Donald Trump appears baffled by a similar dilemma, the mystery of why Republicans aren’t way ahead in the polls despite extremely favorable objective factors. All the economic indicators are shooting through the proverbial roof these days, yet Republicans still lag behind where it counts – voter preference surveys. Trump proudly touted…

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ACLU Launches Million Dollar Ad Campaign Likening Kavanaugh To Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton

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by Hanna Bogorowski   The ACLU took another step against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh Monday after it launched a million dollar advertisement campaign opposing his nomination and likening the judge to convicted sexual predator Bill Cosby. The campaign targets a handful of Republican senators, including Sens. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well as Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The ACLU took the nontraditional step of opposing Kavanaugh’s nomination on Saturday, a move the supposedly non-partisan organization called “rare.” “In this instance, the national board held an extraordinary meeting, and has chosen to make an exception” to its policy of not supporting or opposing candidates for political offices or judicial office. The organization took this opposition one step further Monday when it announced it spent over $1 million in television advertisements urging said Republican senators to vote against Kavanaugh. “We’ve seen this before, denials from powerful men,” the ad begins, showing images of famous men accused of sexual assault, including disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and former President Bill Clinton. “America is watching,” it warns. NEW: When we said we're going to use the full force of the ACLU…

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Senate Democrats Inadvertently Admit President Trump Can Order and Conclude FBI Investigations

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by Robert Romano   The Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 28 advanced to the Senate floor for a vote the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. But, retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) did so conditionally, saying he would only support Kavanaugh on the floor if the FBI is ordered by President Donald Trump to conduct another background check on Kavanaugh in a limited period of time no longer than a week. The Committee then issued a statement saying it “will request that the administration instruct the FBI to conduct a supplemental FBI background investigation with respect to the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. The supplemental FBI background investigation would be limited to current credible allegations against the nominee and must be completed no later than one week from today.” And then President Donald Trump ordered the additional background investigation, issuing a statement saying, “I’ve ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh’s file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week.” Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have already staked out this position at the Sept. 27 hearing.…

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What’s Ahead for US Supreme Court as It Starts New Term

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United States Supreme Court

by Masood Farivar   With Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hanging in the balance, the high court is scheduled to open its new term on Monday with oral arguments on a range of issues before eight ideologically divided justices. This is not the first time the high court has had a vacancy at the start of a new term. In 2016, the court faced a similar situation after Justice Antonin Scalia died earlier in the year and Republicans in the Senate refused to hold confirmation hearings for President Barack Obama’s nominee, keeping the seat vacant for nearly a year. If Kavanaugh wins confirmation, he is expected to provide a critical conservative vote that could tip the court’s balance on key issues this year and beyond. Legal experts say the justices may reschedule for re-argument some of the cases that have been set to be heard early in the term. The high court usually accepts less than 100 of the more than 7,000 cases it’s asked to review every year. So far this term, it has taken 44 cases with about half of them set for argument during October and November. Big cases coming Duke University law professor Brandon Garrett says…

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GOP Rep Jim Jordan Says Voters Have an Easy Choice In November Between Republican Results and Democratic ‘Craziness’

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by Nick Givas   GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said voters have a clear choice between Republican results or Democratic “craziness” in November’s midterms when they go to the polls. “I think this election is really about two contrasting visions for where we’re going to take the country,” Jordan said on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom” Friday. “I mean, I’ve never seen the Democrat Party take the extreme positions they are now taking.” “They applaud [Colin] Kaepernick when he disrespects the flag. They embrace [Andrew] Cuomo when he says America was never that great. And they cheer on Maxine Waters when she says go out and harass people who support the president of the United States. That is craziness.” Fox News’ America’s Newsroom tweeted the interview: WATCH: @BillHemmer got reaction from @Jim_Jordan ahead of the vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination at 1:30 PM EST #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/Qa0pCcypNA — America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) September 28, 2018 Jordan said Democrats have assumed radical ideological positions and claimed their platform is in direct contrast to that of President Donald Trump. “That’s the position that the left has now taken in this country. Contrast that with the record under President Trump’s leadership,” he continued. “Taxes cut, regulations…

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Next Step: Democrats Pledge To Investigate Kavanaugh, Float Impeachment If He’s Confirmed

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by Peter Hasson   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh might keep facing political attacks from the left if he is confirmed to the nation’s highest court. Kavanaugh faced an onslaught of attacks from Democrats and liberal activists even before Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford accused him of drunkenly trying to force himself on her while the two were in high school. Kavanaugh denied Ford’s accusation once again in an emotional testimony Thursday. Brian Fallon, former press secretary on Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign, predicted Kavanaugh “will not serve for life” if confirmed to the Supreme Court. Fallon leads Demand Justice, a Democratic dark money group dedicated to opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation, and previously called for Kavanaugh to be impeached from his current position on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. “If Senate GOP ignores Dr. Blasey Ford and tries to muscle an attempted rapist onto the Supreme Court: 1. They will pay dearly this November. 2. Senators up in 2020 (Collins, Gardner et al) will feel intense heat for next two years. 3. Kavanaugh will not serve for life,” Fallon predicted. If Senate GOP ignores Dr. Blasey Ford and tries to muscle an attempted rapist onto the Supreme Court:1. They will pay dearly this November.2. Senators up in…

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Commentary: The Senate, Not the FBI, Confirms Supreme Court Justices

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by Robert Romano   Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states that “The president shall… nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint… judges of the supreme court…” Those are the simple words that outline the process prescribed by the U.S. Constitution for confirming Supreme Court justices. The President nominates a justice, in the current case Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and the Senate advises and then either consents or not to the nomination. Not the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is not even in the Constitution. It seems that Senate Democrats were more interested in asking Judge Kavanaugh what he thought the appropriate process for hearing the allegations of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was than to ask him about those allegations. To his credit, Kavanaugh did not give the committee Democrats what they wanted, which was a sound bite calling for an FBI investigation into himself. What a preposterous line of questioning. The FBI cannot even bring a charge of sexual assault against Kavanaugh or anyone else. As it is, Kavanaugh has already been subject to six FBI background checks throughout his career, which is really all that would happen here. A statement by the…

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Tennessee Star EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Lamar Alexander Stands Strong in Support of Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation to the Supreme Court

Tennessee Star Staff

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) reaffirmed his strong support for the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in an exclusive interview late Friday afternoon at his Senate offices in Nashville with Tennessee Star political editor and host of The Tennessee Star Report, heard weekday mornings from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Talkradio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC, Steve Gill. Alexander’s remarks came after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s 11 to 10 party line vote to favorably recommend Kavanaugh’s nomination for a floor vote in the Senate, but minutes before President Trump instructed the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation into the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh, limited to one week in duration. Trump’s order came after Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) last minute demand that such an investigation be conducted. “As we sit here on a Friday when this whole Kavanaugh confirmation process is still in flux, now, apparently, a request for an FBI investigation, it may be voted next week early or late, as you kind of look at it right now, where do you see it going, again, while we know it changes minute by minute,” Gill said. “Well, I don’t want to predict what will happen because, who knows what…

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POLL: Smears Of Kavanaugh Motivating Voters Against ‘Radical and Unscrupulous’ Democrats

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by CHQ Staff   Conservatives see the confirmation vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the issue that will allow Republicans to not only hold but even expand their Senate majority this fall, according to a poll by FedUp PAC. A large majority of 91.4% say that campaigning in support of Kavanaugh allows the GOP to highlight how “radical and unscrupulous” the Democrats have become.  Another 5.3% fear that Kavanaugh has been seriously tarnished by the uncorroborated accusations, and that Republicans should campaign on local issues without mentioning Kavanaugh.  Only 3.3% are undecided. The first round of Kavanaugh hearings demonstrated that the radical Democrats would not vote for any nominee who demonstrated faithfulness to the Constitution and the laws as written.  Instead they demanded that the Supreme Court become a left-wing legislature, imposing as the “law of the land” rulings for which many elected Democrats dare not vote. The unscrupulous nature of the Democrats was shown by their waiting until just before the committee vote on Kavanaugh, then springing the unlikely and uncorroborated story of Christine Blasey Ford, using it for delay and more delay.  When it appeared that the committee was finally moving toward a vote, they pulled yet another wild…

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Blasey Ford Says She Can’t Remember If She Gave Therapist Notes To A Reporter, But WaPo Claims They Had Them

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by Hanna Bogorowski   During Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Blasey Ford said she could not remember if she directly gave reporters her therapist notes from 2012. The Washington Post‘s article by Emma Brown revealed Sept. 16 the identity of the woman behind the anonymous letter sent to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California alleging Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. In the report, Blasey Ford says she never told anyone of the incident until 2012 during a couples therapy session, and WaPo appeared to claim it had obtained a portion of the therapist’s notes. She alleges Kavanaugh pinned her down on a bed and attempted to remove her clothing forcibly. “Ford said she told no one of the incident in any detail until 2012, when she was in couples therapy with her husband,” the report reads. “The therapist’s notes, portions of which were provided by Ford and reviewed by The Washington Post, do not mention Kavanaugh’s name but say she reported that she was attacked by students ‘from an elitist boys’ school’ who went on to become ‘highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington.’” “The notes say four boys…

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Sharia Law Advocate Linda Sarsour Arrested Again – This Time While Blocking Streets Outside Supreme Court

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by Henry Rodgers   Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour was arrested while protesting against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Thursday afternoon. Sarsour, who has been arrested numerous times, including at Kavanaugh’s Sept. 4 confirmation hearing, was spotted inside the Hart Senate Office Building around 10 a.m. with dozens of protesters, before leading a march with the group outside of the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court. A group of protesters and Sarsour were seen sitting in the middle of the street in front of the Supreme Court hours later. After being asked to move multiple times, police arrested Sarsour and dozens of others of protesters. #CancelKavanaugh: @womensmarch leaders Linda Sarsour & Bob Bland started a chant of “arrest Trump” while being led away. pic.twitter.com/xnHa1GCnHb — Alejandro Alvarez 🫡 (@aletweetsnews) September 27, 2018 Kavanaugh was testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Daily Caller News Foundation asked Sarsour what her plans were before the arrest. She refused to comment.  – – – Henry Rodgers is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Henry on Twitter. Photo “Linda Sarsour” by Festival of Faiths CC2.0                     Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without…

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Commentary: The Suicidal Sanctimony of Phony Conservatives

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by Chris Buskirk   Christine Blasey Ford made scurrilous accusations against Brett Kavanaugh for actions she claims occurred nearly 35 years ago when they were both minors. Both Judge Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, who Ford also claims was present have vehemently and categorically denied her claims. The people who know Kavanaugh, as well as decades of evidence of a life lived with dignity and propriety, support him. Even one of the people Ford claims was a witness denies her claims. Ford says that Leland Keyser was a friend of hers and was at the party in 1982. But Keyser says she has no recollection of the party. Not only that, she denies knowing or ever being in a social situation with Kavanaugh. Keyser’s statement calls into question whether the party occurred at all, which would make Ford’s claims against Kavanaugh entirely false. Predictably, however, Ford has been joined by Stormy Daniels’ execrable mouthpiece, Michael Avenatti. Now a Yale classmate is making claims about some nudity at a dorm party, which have been questioned or denied by people who were allegedly there. So why are some self-described conservatives signing up to help this circus along? What’s Different Now False accusations and smear…

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Steve Osborne Commentary: #ConfirmKavanaugh Now

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by Steve Osborne   The Kavanaugh hearings have devolved into a disgraceful spectacle. As his accuser’s accusation falls apart, another accuser mysteriously appeared over the weekend saying the judge acted inappropriately during his freshman year in college. If you haven’t figured it out by now, let me tell you that this whole charade is an orchestrated attempt by the democrats, hoping to delay a vote on Kavanaugh’s appointment to SCOTUS. The Democrats see that there’s a possibility of retaking the majority in the senate. If they can delay the vote on Kavanaugh until after the midterm elections, the judge won’t get the necessary votes to be confirmed. All the while, the judge’s family has to endure unfounded mudslinging all for the sake of unseemly politics. Sadly, we’ve seen this movie before. The Honorable Robert Bork, nominated for SCOTUS by President Reagan, was publicly and unjustly ripped to shreds during his confirmation hearing, and failed to get the necessary votes to confirm his nomination. Justice Clarence Thomas was similarly defamed during his confirmation hearing by a democrat operative named Anita Hill. Thankfully, Justice Thomas, knowing Anita was a setup, read a statement prior to his vote in which he excoriated the…

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Expert: Failure By the Republicans to Confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh Could Mean Annihilation in November

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Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump

By Robert Romano     The GOP Senate has one very important job, and that is to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, maintaining the balance of power on the nation’s highest court. When Justice Anthony Kennedy retired, it was a gift to Republicans, giving them an opportunity to confirm a replacement that would be nominated by a Republican president and confirmed by a Republican Senate. To highlight the importance of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, one need only look through the prism of time to see what lies ahead should he be delayed or defeated. If Kavanaugh is held up or voted down, it will be because a few — and that’s all it will take — Senate Republicans who sabotaged their own party by scuttling the confirmation. If Senate Republicans fail here and now, there likely won’t be enough time to confirm an alternate to Kavanaugh before 2019. It would be a betrayal of Republicans voters who wanted a constitutionalist majority on the court to interpret the law as written, and could risk suppressing conservative turnout in the 2018 midterm elections in November. Put simply, the GOP simply cannot afford to lose the Kavanaugh confirmation. Senate Democrats, should they wrest…

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Kavanaugh Accuser Wants to Testify Next Week, Her Lawyers Say

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The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her three decades ago when they were in high school wants to testify next week before a Senate panel, her lawyers told committee aides Thursday. The lawyers said that California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford “would be prepared to testify next week,” as long as the lawmakers offered “terms that are fair and which ensure her safety,” news outlets reported. The Senate Judiciary Committee had scheduled a Monday hearing and invited Ford to testify then about what she has alleged happened in 1982 at a house party in suburban Washington. She contends Kavanaugh, then 17 and “stumbling drunk,” pinned her to a bed and groped her, leaving her fearful for her life before she escaped. ‘Strong preference’ for full probe Ford’s lawyers said her testimony Monday “is not possible and the committee’s insistence that it occur then is arbitrary in any event.” They said Ford’s “strong preference” is that “a full investigation” be completed before her testimony, but stopped short of demanding an FBI probe and seemed to suggest that she would testify without one. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, had given Ford, who was…

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Bredsen Still Equivocating on How He Would Vote on Kavanaugh SCOTUS Nomination, Says Accuser ‘Has a Very Credible Story’ Despite Lack of Corroboration

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Phil Bredesen, the Democrat candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee being vacated by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), is still equivocating on how he would vote if he were in the U.S. Senate now and required to vote on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, nominated by President Trump to serve on the Supreme Court. In contrast to Bredesen, his Republican opponent, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) remains fully in support of confirming Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Late Wednesday, Bredesen told the Associated Press that Professor Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Kavanaugh of attempting to sexually assault her more than 35 years ago but has provided no corroborating evidence or witnesses, “has a very credible story .” “But he said the Judiciary Committee should consider proceeding with a vote if she does not testify under oath,” the Associated Press reported, adding: “She has put herself out there,” Bredesen said of Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her while they were both in high school. “If she decided at this point to not do something, I guess the committee has to go ahead and say, ‘Well, we were willing to listen, but if she’s not…

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Calls for New FBI Probe of Kavanaugh Have No Precedent

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by Fred Lucas   An FBI inquiry into a California woman’s allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would be highly unusual, but wouldn’t necessarily delay a Senate vote on confirmation, legal experts said. Christine Blasey Ford, a professor of clinical psychology at Palo Alto University in California, alleges that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her when the two were teenagers in suburban Maryland in the early 1980s. The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to reconvene Monday to hear from both Ford, 51, and Kavanaugh, 53, a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since 2006. But Tuesday night, Ford’s lawyer asked for an FBI investigation into the matter before Ford would talk to the committee. “Dr. Ford’s request is in reverse order,” Michael J. Clark, a former 22-year FBI agent, told The Daily Signal. “If she does not come forward for a Senate hearing, the Senate is chasing its tail.” Clark, who lectures in the criminal justice department of the University of New Haven, said the Senate then could decide to ask the FBI to look at the matter further. “She should testify so senators can determine if she is credible,” Clark said.…

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Dr. Carol M. Swain Commentary: Politico’s Claim That ‘God is Laughing at Brett Kavanaugh’ Demonstrates Publication’s Bias Against Christians and Conservatives

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Carol Swain

by Dr. Carol M. Swain   When did America’s standard of justice erode to the point where we automatically presume innocence for women who make strategically timed sexual allegations against successful men at pivotal times in their careers? Under the new “ends justify means” politics, there is no standard of proof, no statute of limitations, and no real consequences for telling politically-motivated lies. In fact, the women who make allegations against conservatives are treated like heroines. Just ask Anita Hill. Of course, I am referring to what started off as a vicious, anonymous sexual-assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh but has now blossomed into a full-blown allegation by accuser Christine Blasey Ford, a professorof clinical psychology at Palo Alto University. Her anonymous accusation made in a July letter to Senator Diane Feinstein is now part of a desperate effort to kill the Kavanaugh confirmation. The political left is full of glee at the prospect of bringing down one of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominees. So much so, that John Harris, editor-in-chief of Politico, decided to bring God into the debate in an article titled “Why God is Laughing at Brett Kavanaugh.” The subtitle of the smug and self-righteous screed was “American Politics is about power,…

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What to Expect When the Supreme Court Returns

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Supreme Court of the United States

by Elizabeth Slattery   Monday, Oct. 1, marks the start of a new Supreme Court term. With conservative victories in numerous cases (NIFLA, the so-called “travel ban,” Masterpiece Cakeshop, Janus, and more), the previous term is summed up best by then-candidate Donald Trump: “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning.” Will conservatives keep the streak alive? The upcoming term may not have quite as many high-profile, headline-grabbing cases, but the justices will nevertheless hear a number of cases raising important issues. Here are a few of the cases coming up in October: Weyerhaeuser Company v. US Fish and Wildlife Service What happens when the government decides private land is “critical habitat” for an animal that can’t survive there and hasn’t lived in the area for half a century? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 1,500 acres of land in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, as “critical habitat” for the endangered dusky gopher frog (also known as the Mississippi gopher frog, named for its natural habitat). In the early 20th century, these frogs could be found throughout the Gulf Coast—from Louisiana to Alabama. But today, they are not found in the wild outside Harrison County, Mississippi.…

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Schumer, Feinstein Call For Delay On Kavanaugh, As GOP Gives Conflicting Signals

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Diane Feinstein, Chuck Schumer

by Kevin Daley   Senate Democratic leadership urged Republicans to delay further action on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, after The Washington Post revealed the identity of a once-anonymous woman accusing the nominee of sexual assault when they were in high school. The accuser, a researcher named Christine Blasey Ford affiliated with Stanford and Palo Alto University, provided additional details about the alleged assault to The Post, the first time she has spoken publicly about her accusations. The report notwithstanding, key Republican lawmakers appeared ready to proceed, though at least one GOP senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he was open to further input from Ford. By Ford’s telling, Kavanaugh allegedly held her down on a bed and groped her at a house party at some point in the early 1980s. The alleged encounter ended when a third person, Mark Judge, intervened by jumping on top of them. At the time of the alleged incident, Kavanaugh was 17 and Ford was 15. For his part, Kavanaugh adamantly denies the charge. “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” the judge said in a statement provided…

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Unnamed and Uncorroborated Accuser Claims Brett Kavanaugh Tried To Force Himself Onto Her More Than Thirty Years Ago

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Brett Kavanaugh

by Kevin Daley   An unnamed woman has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of attempting to force himself onto her during an non-consensual encounter at a party, one day after Democratic lawmakers released a cryptic statement referring to possible misconduct in the judge’s past. The allegation, which appeared Friday morning in The New Yorker, relates an incident that occurred in the early 1980s when Kavanaugh was a high school student at Georgetown Preparatory School in Maryland. All involved in the alleged encounter were minors at the time. According to the report, the woman alleges that Kavanaugh and a male classmate accosted her at a party. She claims Kavanaugh held her down and attempted to force himself onto her while his confidant turned up music which was playing in the room to drown out her protestations. The New Yorker reported that the alleged victim managed to free herself. It is not clear if a sexual liaison took place. “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,” Kavanaugh told said in a statement released by the White House. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time.” The other male involved in the alleged incident separately denied the charge. Sen. Dianne…

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Sen. Lamar Alexander: ‘Judge Kavanaugh Will Be Confirmed by the Senate at the End of the Month’

Tennessee Star Staff
Lamar Alexander

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) told a gathering of the Nashville Kiwanis Club on Friday he believes that Judge Brett Kavanaugh will be sitting on the Supreme Court on October 1. Alexander began his comments by noting that “the Senate has gotten into a bad habit” in recent years in the way it conducts hearings on nominees for the Supreme Court. “I believe that Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed by the Senate at the end of the month and be sitting on the Court October 1 when it opens its new term,” Alexander told the audience at the Patron Platinum Club Restaurant at Bridgestone Arena. Alexander said some Democrats in the Senate now consider Supreme Court nominees as “innocent until nominated.” “They treat someone like Judge Kavanaugh as if he were recently released from San Quentin prison. Although in fact, he is one of the most highly regarded members of the Federal Circuit Court,” Alexander said. “You have a Republican president appointing judges, and the Democratic senators acting like they’re in the circus, trying to insult the judge . . . for whatever reasons I’m not sure. It’s a very bad habit. It’s not good for our country,” he noted.…

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Judge Brett Kavanaugh Addresses His Encounter With Parkland Dad in Written Supplement To Testimony

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Brett Kavanaugh

by Kevin Daley   Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh submitted written responses to over 1,000 follow-up questions from lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee late Wednesday night. The judge’s responses run over 250 pages, though many referred back to answers given during his confirmation hearings and other public writings. As in the hearings, Kavanaugh was evasive when pressed for his views on abortion and related social issues. “As a sitting judge and nominee, principles of judicial independence prevent me from speculating about hypothetical contingent events, particularly involving a controlling precedent of the Supreme Court,” he wrote in response to a question about the events that would follow the overruling of Roe v. Wade. GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the committee, asked Kavanaugh to address his fleeting encounter with Parkland, Florida, parent Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime Guttenberg was killed during the Feb. 14 massacre. Fred Guttenberg approached the judge as he left the witness table for a recess — images of Kavanaugh avoiding the advance circulated widely in social media. “As I was leaving the hearing room for a recess last Tuesday, a man behind me yelled my name, approached me from behind, and touched my arm,” Kavanaugh…

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Walter Williams Commentary: Brett Kavanaugh’s Opponents Aren’t Really Against Him, They’re Against the Constitution

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Brett Kavanaugh

by Walter E. Williams   One of the best statements of how the Framers saw the role of the federal government is found in Federalist Paper 45, written by James Madison, who is known as the “Father of the Constitution”: The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce. … The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people. Today’s reality is the polar opposite of that vision. The powers of the federal government are numerous and indefinite, and those of state governments are few and defined. If confirmed, Brett Kavanaugh will bring to the Supreme Court a vision closer to that of the Framers than the vision of those who believe that the Constitution is a “living document.” Those Americans rallying against Kavanaugh’s confirmation are really against the Constitution rather than the man—Kavanaugh—whom I believe would take seriously his oath of office to uphold…

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Kavanaugh Supreme Court Confirmation Vote Puts Red State Democrats in a Bind

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by Robert Romano   Nine Senate Democrats are standing for reelection this year in states President Donald Trump carried in 2016: Jon Tester on Montana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bill Nelson of Florida. And they could be facing the vote of their political lives when it comes to the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. So far, of those nine, Tester, Heitkamp, Nelson, Donnelly, Manchin and McCaskill have not said they will support or oppose Kavanaugh. They’ve been very quiet. For good reason. The political left in the U.S. is having an apoplectic fit that less than two years into President Donald Trump first term of office, he has had not one but two Supreme Court picks. More than any other decision, who a president puts on the Supreme Court is often one of his most enduring legacies, as the appointments often last decades. To them, Kavanaugh, a constitutionalist who promises to interpret the law as written represents everything they oppose—a firm, consistent, predictable rule of law within the boundaries set by the…

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Will Pence Cast The Tie-Breaking Vote For Brett Kavanaugh?

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Brett Kavanaugh, Mike Pence

by Kevin Daley   Vice President Mike Pence is prepared to cast a tie-breaking vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, should the Senate split 50-50 in a vote on his nomination. Speaking Sunday to CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Pence said he hopes the Senate will not deadlock on the Kavanaugh nomination, while appearing to acknowledge that the White House doesn’t yet know how a handful of key lawmakers plan to vote. “Well we hope not,” he said, when asked if a tie in the Senate is likely. The Constitution empowers the vice president to break ties when the Senate splits evenly on the question before it. The vice president did not say whether the administration had a firm vote count for the confirmation. Though most lawmakers have publicly announced their intentions respecting Kavanaugh, a handful of moderate senators have deferred their decisions until after the confirmation hearings concluded. Most notably, two pro-choice Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have not yet committed to supporting Kavanaugh, though both have generally said positive things about him publicly. “We’ll see where we are,” Pence said, when Brennan pressed as to whether the administration knew…

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All Eyes On Red State Dems As Kavanaugh Emerges From Hearings Intact

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Brett Kavanaugh

by Kevin Daley   Attention is fixed on a handful of moderate senators expected to cast the decisive votes on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, after Kavanaugh emerged relatively unscathed from several days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats tried to infuse the hearings with defiant gestures and dramatic reveals — like a 2003 email purporting to show Kavanaugh misled the committee about his views on Roe v. Wade — but their tactics gained little traction with key lawmakers, while the judge put in a disciplined performance throughout. “Over the past three days, Judge Kavanaugh demonstrated exactly why President Trump nominated him to the Supreme Court,” said White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah. “His fidelity to the Constitution, impeccable qualifications, and extraordinary temperament were on full display for the American people to see. Through long hours and days of questioning, Judge Kavanaugh consistently reinforced his firm belief in the bedrock principles of judicial independence and the rule of law.” For his part, Kavanaugh avoided serious blunders, meeting pointed questions about abortion, race, guns, and executive power with narrow, carefully planned answers, showing good command of legal doctrine but little about his actual views. Supreme Court nominees have generally avoided…

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Commentary: The Kavanaugh Hearing: A Democrat Campaign Circus

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Brett Kavanaugh

by CHQ Staff   Conservative may assume that the not so “presidential” aspirations of Democratic Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California turned Thursday’s confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh into a circus, with Harris and Booker vying for the role of chief clown, but it was an important moment in Democratic politics. Booker began the morning by announcing “I’m breaking Senate rules. This is my only chance to have a Spartacus moment. I’m willing to get kicked out of the Senate over this,” before claiming to release publicly “committee confidential” memos related to Kavanaugh’s time at the Bush White House. The only problem for those of us who would like to see Booker out of the Senate is that the material had already been cleared for release to the media, so charges leading to Booker’s expulsion from the Senate would not hold up. What’s more, reading through the material reveals that Kavanaugh came out strongly against racial or ethnic profiling in the George W. Bush administration’s post-9/11 airport security screening and law enforcement policies generally. FOX News reporter Shannon Bream later tweeted that Fox was told by Committee staffers that Sen. Booker knew BEFORE he made…

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As Kavanaugh Hearings Loom, One Minnesota Senate Democrat Regrets Abolishing Filibuster

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by Kevin Daley   Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Sunday that her party should not have invoked the so-called nuclear option and abolished the legislative filibuster for judicial nominees. The remarks come just before Judge Brett Kavanaugh will appear for confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republican lawmakers expect Kavanaugh will be confirmed if he acquits himself well at the hearings. “I would’ve liked to see 60 votes, no matter what the judge is,” Klobuchar told NBC. “I don’t think we should’ve made that change, when we look back at it. But it happened because we were so frustrated, because President Obama wasn’t able to get his nominees.” But Klobuchar added that neither party is likely to reimpose the filibuster over judicial nominations, since doing so would cede a huge tactical advantage. “I don’t think anyone’s going to want to hamstring themselves,” she said. Democrats changed Senate rules in 2013 after a protracted Republican filibuster blocked three Obama nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the court on which Kavanaugh sits. All three nominees, Judges Nina Pillard, Patricia Millett, and Robert Wilkins, were later confirmed. The GOP followed suit in 2017 when Democrats successfully filibustered Justice Neil Gorsuch’s…

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Poll: Conservatives See Democrats Working for Minority Rule Through Supreme Court

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Brett Kavanaugh

by CHQ Staff   Conservatives see Democrat opposition to Judge Brett Kavanaugh as opposition to majority rule itself, according to a poll by FedUp PAC. An almost unanimous 99% say that liberal Democrats “rely on the courts to overrule the majority” of Americans and that they oppose any judge who “would rule impartially according to the Constitution and the laws.” Democrats have relied on Supreme Court rulings to impose abortion on demand and homosexual marriage, as well as to nearly abolish the death penalty through a maze of restrictions and limitations. Kavanaugh is known as a judge who can be expected to rule in accordance with the text and intent of the Constitution and the law, and is unlikely to discover “rights” that had somehow escaped notice during more than two centuries under the Constitution.   By replacing Justice Anthony Kennedy, Kavanaugh would reduce to four the number of Supreme Curt justices who have shown a propensity for rewriting the Constitution. The four justices appointed by Presidents Clinton and Obama have often treated it as a “living” document subject the change by a five-vote majority on the Court rather than by the amendment process. President Trump nominated Judge Kavanaugh, who is…

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Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearings to Begin September 4

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Brett Kavanaugh

by Fred Lucas   The confirmation hearings for federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to become the next Supreme Court justice will begin on Sept. 4 and last three to four days, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced Friday. Grassley’s announcement comes as Senate Democrats sought to further stall the hearings, demanding more documents on Kavanaugh’s service in President George W. Bush’s White House and as a lawyer on independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s. “As I said after his nomination, Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most respected jurists in the country and one of the most qualified nominees ever to be considered by the Senate for a seat on our highest court,” said Grassley in a statement. Kavanaugh has served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 2006. President Donald Trump nominated him July 9 to fill the vacancy of the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Grassley continued: My team has already reviewed every page of the over 4,800 pages of judicial opinions Judge Kavanaugh wrote, over 6,400 pages of opinions he joined, more than 125,000 pages of records produced…

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Orrin Hatch Calls Out Democrats’ ‘Dumba–‘ Partisanship Over Kavanaugh Document Request

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Orrin Hatch

by Molly Prince   Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah criticized Democrats on Thursday over their superfluous request to gain access to and review over a million additional documents prior to the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Speaking with other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hatch expressed his disappointment in Kavanaugh’s confirmation process, specifically regarding the partisanship on the side of the Democrats. “We can’t keep going down this partisan, picky, stupid dumbass road that has happened around here for so long,” Hatch said, according to a C-SPAN recording. “I am sick and tired of it to be honest with you and I’m tired of the partisanship, and frankly, we didn’t treat their candidates for these positions the way their treating ours.” Democrats have demanded volumes of archived documents from when Kavanaugh worked as a staff secretary for former President George W. Bush, an unprecedented request for a Supreme Court nominee. While Democrats claim Republicans are trying to “hide” Kavanaugh’s past by not releasing the documents, Republicans are claiming Democrats are stonewalling the confirmation hearing. “When you look at Judge Kavanaugh, if you want a choir boy to be on the court, in other words, from…

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Sen. Rand Paul Backs Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh

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Rand Paul

Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who had publicly wavered as to whether he would support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, endorsed him Monday. Paul of Kentucky says he will back Kavanaugh despite his misgivings about the judge’s views on surveillance and privacy issues. Few had expected Senator Paul would oppose President Donald Trump’s choice in the end. The endorsement gives Kavanaugh a boost as he prepares to sit down Monday afternoon with Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, one of a handful of Democratic senators seen as potential swing votes in the confirmation fight. Manchin has said he’s interested in Kavanaugh’s views on the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The senator has also asked West Virginia residents to send him questions for the meeting. Manchin was one of three Democrats who voted to confirm Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota were the others. All three are up for re-election in states Trump easily won in 2016. Republicans have a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate. With the absence of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is fighting brain cancer, they cannot afford to lose…

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