Article by Hannah Lucas ’21
For those of you who have been hiding under the warmth of your comforters, desperate to muffle the sounds of the television as it describes the next tragic screw-up in our world but have only now decided to rip off the blankets and tune in, allow me to catch you up to speed. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assaulting her when she was 15 years old at a party in the summer of 1982. In her sworn testimony, Dr. Ford credibly describes the incident that occurred over 35 years ago in which her life was forever changed. While Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is 100% certain that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, Brett Kavanaugh is 100% certain that Dr. Ford’s allegations are false.
Article 3 of the United States Constitution establishes the existence of a federal judiciary and the highest court in the land. The role of the Supreme Court is to protect the civil rights and liberties of the people and to uphold the fundamental values common to all Americans. The Judiciary is the only branch of the United States government in which the officers are not democratically elected.
Given this knowledge, should the American people expect their elected Senators to confirm a truthful and honorable nominee to sit on the bench beside the men and women whom we regard as the concrete embodiment of our judicial system?
The events that transpired during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Thursday can be described as nothing less than sickening. Judge Kavanaugh equated his legal, constitutional confirmation process with “a circus” as helpless American citizens watched, no doubt transfixed. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina lost it during Kavanaugh’s questioning, screaming at the Democratic Senators across from him that their desire to postpone the confirmation is “the most unethical sham” he has witnessed in his political career. Democrats on the other hand found Dr. Ford’s testimony to be fully credible and uncommonly courageous as she appeared before the committee to fulfill her “civic duty.”
Senator Lindsey Graham defends Kavanaugh to his Democratic opponents
In the drama of Kavanaugh and Ford’s historic battle, let us not lose sight of the fact that whatever the truth may be, the results of this decision will boil down to the persistent partisan divide that is impeding our elected officials’ ability to think rationally about the facts before them. With the upcoming November midterm elections, Democrats are hoping to thwart the confirmation in order to buy the necessary time to win back a Democratic majority in the Senate and acquire control over Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee. Republicans fear this outcome and are therefore doing everything in their power to push Kavanaugh through despite the moral ramifications. Members of the Senate need to step back and look at the bigger picture. By confirming Judge Kavanaugh they would be setting a new low bar for future justices and essentially claiming that no matter a person’s aggressive demeanor towards the panel of Senate Judiciary Committee members or a clearly troubled past, they would be able to serve among eight other established justices on the highest court in the land and protect the civil rights and liberties of the people despite defiling the laws that person claims to uphold. No matter party politics, Kavanaugh must be struck down. The Senate must set a higher standard. The American people deserve better.