Justice Is Served?

The recent confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court has created a storm of controversy that, by the looks of it, isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.

Kavanaugh, 53, is an experienced jurist with a legal career spanning nearly three decades, during which time he has served as White House Staff Secretary under Bush and Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court in July after it was announced that Justice Anthony Kennedy would be retiring. Kennedy, who served on the Court for 30 years, has a record of more progressive-leaning decisions in various cases concerning issues such as gay rights and abortion, despite being appointed by conservative president Ronald Reagan.

With Kavanaugh on the Court, there is now a conservative majority among the nine Justices, which has some quite distressed.

The controversy surrounding Kavanaugh’s confirmation arose in September, when a psychology professor at Palo Alto University, Christine Blasey Ford, alleged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her.

Ford, a former high school classmate of Kavanaugh, claims that during the summer of 1982, Kavanaugh held her down on a bed and groped her while Kavanaugh’s friend, Mark Judge, looked on. This was apparently broken up when the latter jumped onto the bed, toppling them over and giving her a chance to escape.

36 years later, she has gone public with this information, just as Kavanaugh was nominated for the Supreme Court. This has been the dividing line between some citizens on Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination over the past several months, which has dominated the news.

During and after Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee, protesters swarmed Washington, D.C., chanting and holding signs, some vulgar, voicing opposition to his confirmation. The day of his confirmation, highly energized activists pounded on the bronze doors of the Supreme Court and climbed on the marble statues outside.

Shaina Bourne, freshman at Regent University, stated that she agreed with Kavenaugh’s confirmation, as “he had valid, detailed records to prove his whereabouts [and] the 60 plus women that came forward backing up his character.”

Some of the information given by Ford surrounding the alleged 1982 assault don’t add up. Though her statements varied at times, one cannot dismiss Ford and call her a liar.

However, without any compelling evidence to back her story up, and with multiple inconsistencies, Kavanaugh was presumed innocent.

“Due process is a vital aspect of our republic and has to be followed regardless of the emotion behind the accusation,” said Troy Collazo, president and State Chair of Young Americans for Liberty’s Regent University chapter. “Since there was no corroborating evidence he has to be treated as not guilty, so he was still eligible for confirmation.”

In September, a letter was released signed by 65 women who knew Kavanaugh in high school and claimed he was a man of good moral character.

Others are not so inclined to side with Kavanaugh and are quick to dismiss him despite what the courts deemed as insufficient evidence.

“I think the digging into his past was necessary, but the way it was conducted was so poor and rude,” said freshman Cassandra Cravatta. “It was all based on an agenda instead of the good of the American people.”

John Morley is a staff writer for the Daily Runner.