The recent days have been filled with a lot of emotion and tension. In the mix of all of the testimonies, it can be easy to get lost amongst the details.
Here’s the rundown on what happened with the Kavanaugh hearings:
Brett Kavanaugh is a judge who has been nominated by Donald Trump to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court bench. Confirming this nomination has been a wild ride.
Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual assault by three different women, and on Thursday, he and one of the women, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, testified in front of a special congressional committee.
This special committee held the hearing in order to vote on whether or not to send Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Senate floor. The committee consisted of 21 senators, 11 republicans and 10 democrats.
After much debate over the testimonials, the committee voted early Friday afternoon – the confirmation vote will happen in the Senate. However, there is a catch.
Senator Jeff Flake, a republican from Arizona, was on the fence for the entirety of the hearings, and only agreed to vote yes for Kavanaugh, as long as the Senate vote is delayed to allow an FBI investigation to occur.
Senator Jeff Flake (R- Arizona)
What does this mean?
A large complaint about the hearings was that neither party, the accuser or the accused, were given the due process which they deserved ~ i.e. a formal investigation to prove facts. Kavanaugh will not be confirmed until the investigation is conducted.
Dr. Chistine Blasey Ford being sworn in
In light of all of this, it is important to remember that sexual assault accusations should not be taken lightly. Victims should be given the respect they deserve by allowing their voices to be heard without criticism or repercussions. If there is any doubt about the occurrence, the situation should be handled swiftly and gotten to bottom of through formal investigation, so to minimize the tolls which testifying takes on a person.
Deciding the validity of a sexual assault claim should not be left to senators who have only heard two testimonies. A victim’s story of sexual assault should never be used for large party political gains or strategy. The only impact which should come from a victim coming forward in a situation, such as this, is to ensure that senators (and the American people) have all the information necessary to decide who best fit to fill the seat of judge on the highest ranking court in the country.