Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed into the Supreme Court on October 6th at approximately 3:30pm. The final vote came out to 50-48 in favor of Kavanaugh. With the controversy surrounding Kavanaugh’s case, many people are speculating if he is fit for the job. The sexual assault allegations against him has forced many people to reconsider their opinions about his confirmation.
Mr. Vieira, the Redwood AP U.S history teacher thinks that if a nominee is even just accused of sexual assault, they should be unqualified for the job. “It’s a little bit disappointing because of the accusations brought against him and the fact that there were multiple people… I think that those accusations and the way that he behaved when he was questioned about it was troubling… The fact that he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, I think should disqualify him as a Supreme Court justice.”
Christine Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick all accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault either in high school or college. Jeff Flake, a U.S. Senate, requested the Ford FBI report on her assault accusations. Jeff Flake was the deciding factor on whether the nomination of Kavanaugh would move out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is composed 21 senates, half democrats and half republicans with Jeff Flake as the deciding factor in this nomination. The committee interviews and questions judges before they are moved forward in the process.
When Mr. Vieira asked if he thought it was right for Jeff Flake to request the FBI report on Ford, he replied with, “The job that Kavanagh was appointed to is one of the most important jobs in the US federal government so I think that anybody that is put up for confirmation they should be due diligence on background information, whether that is done through the senate or the FBI, it’s important that we know that the person who is going to sit on the bench is a stand-up gentlemen/women and that there is nothing in there past that is wrong or illegal or immoral.”
“I think America made a rash decision when appointing Kavanaugh. He is not qualified and has done things in his life that do not deserve to just be forgotten”
Michael Anne DeCampos-Inkster
Michael Anne DeCampos-Inkster ’21 spoke out about how she feels about the Kavanaugh confirmation. “I think America made a rash decision when appointing Kavanaugh. He is not qualified and has done things in his life that do not deserve to just be forgotten” Inkster said. When asked if she agreed with his confirmation, she replied with, “I 100% disagree with his confirmation… He is a very manipulative person who will not help this country… what he did was wrong and just because he drank and was in high school does not make it okay… Dr. Ford still deals with trauma..” Inkster ends.
Mr. Schieferle, an Economics/Government and Politics teacher said “Some Supreme Court nominations take a lot longer than this, some take a lot shorter, and some Supreme Court nominees never even get a chance to be confirmed. I don’t think it’s been an extraordinarily long drawn out process.” When asked about the Kavanaugh hearings’ effect on the midterm elections, he said, “I don’t know how this is going to affect the midterm elections. I don’t think the American public knows enough about this to say whether or not it will be affected… There might be a select few that might have changed either way, but I don’t know if that will be enough to affect the midterm elections.”
Although the allegations against Kavanaugh seem damning, his seat on court has shown us the senate’s view on the situation. With the close vote of 50-48, Kavanaugh will be taking a seat on the Supreme Court for the rest of his life.
Annabelle Williamson
Tags: government and politics, kavanaugh, redwood high school, supreme court, visalia ca
