Kavanaugh ‘circus’ is a disaster for an independent judiciary

Jak Allen, University of Kent Political grandstanding during the nomination of a new US Supreme Court justice is perhaps to be expected in the era of Donald Trump. But the process surrounding Brett Kavanaugh – and his testimony on September 28 – has caused potentially irreparable damage to the one […] Read more »

Bitter Tenor of Senate Reflects a Nation at Odds With Itself

… To the right and left alike, Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination appears less like a final spasm of division — a sobering trauma, followed by calm resolution — than an event that deepens the national mood of turbulence. The country is gripped by a climate of division and distrust rivaled by […] Read more »

Here’s why confirming Kavanaugh could seriously undermine the Supreme Court’s public standing

Could Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination undermine the public standing of the Supreme Court? Observers such as the Atlantic’s Ron Brownstein think so. “Every time [Chief Justice John] Roberts would lean on Kavanaugh to construct a majority,” Brownstein writes, “the chief justice could further erode the Court’s already eroding public confidence.” In […] Read more »

Poll Hub: The Impact of Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearings on the 2018 Midterm Elections

The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll has been closely tracking Americans’ opinions of the testimonies of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. But, beyond the sexual harassment allegations and the FBI investigation, are there implications for the midterm elections? CONT. Marist Poll Read more »

Republicans Rescued Kavanaugh’s Nomination By Making It About #MeToo

Brett Kavanaugh seemed like the dream Supreme Court nominee for Republican voters and activists when he was nominated in mid-July. He had the résumé and experience to be confirmed relatively easily, but also a clear ideological background that suggested he would join the conservatives already on the high court in […] Read more »