The current Supreme Court confirmation proceedings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh may be the most important SCOTUS confirmation during our lifetime. The inevitable confirmation will shift what has typically been a primarily liberal or moderate court in the past to a conservative one for what could be the next 30 plus years. Further, with Justices Ginsburg and Breyer in their 80s, it is very feasible that the Supreme Court tips as far as 6-3, conservative to liberal, during the latter part of Trump’s presidency. With this in mind, as well as the fact that Democrats have become increasingly reliant on the courts to enact their policy agenda, it is no wonder that most Democrats vehemently oppose the confirmation and that the politics surrounding it have become so ugly.
It is hard to see any real justification for much of the fearmongering and grandstanding that Senate Democrats have done in the last few days and since Kavanaugh was nominated in July. In my opinion, there is no finer nominee than Brett Kavanaugh for such an office. He is not only a man of great character, but also one who is highly educated and greatly experienced in the fields of law and judgeship. He coaches a youth basketball team, tutors at his local elementary school, has volunteered extensively over his life for the Catholic Church to help those less fortunate than himself and committed himself to mentoring minority groups and empowering women during his time as a judge and lawyer. He has a law degree from Yale, worked for several years under former Justice Anthony Kennedy and worked for over 12 years on the most prestigious circuit court in the country, Washington D.C. He has authored over 300 judicial opinions, most of which were majority opinions on a primarily liberal court. He is a strict Constitutionalist who believes in interpreting the Constitution as it was written and even carries a copy of the Constitution on his person at all times. In all, he checks off the three boxes that most SCOTUS nominees have to check off before being confirmed: character, faithfulness to the founding fathers’ vison and the Constitution and extensive legal experience and education.
Not only that, but he has also kept his stride through countless baseless claims and false narratives driven by Senate Democrats — many of which are fearmongering to receive further support from and rile up their base, while others are looking to kickstart their 2020 aspirations. One of the most repeated false narratives is in relation to the documents that Kavanaugh hasn’t released and whether or not he is being sufficiently transparent. The truth of the matter is that he has released half a million documents from his time as a lawyer and judge, more than the previous five SCOTUS nominees combined and more than any other SCOTUS nominee in history. Despite claims from Senate Democrats, Judge Kavanaugh is arguably one of the most transparent SCOTUS nominees that has ever vied for a position on the court.
As a Supreme Court Justice, Kavanaugh will only rule on the constitutionality of current and future policy and legislation and will not make policy. This is how the founding fathers intended for justices to be and how Alexander Hamilton envisioned the Supreme Court — weakest among the branches of government — in the Federalist Papers. I have complete faith that Judge Kavanaugh will perform his duty to the American people to the best of his ability and will enact his judgment not off of what he believes the Constitution should be today but rather what the founders originally intended.
Aidan Enright, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at AEnright21@wooster.edu.