The ACLU doesn’t normally endorse or oppose individual candidates or nominees. It made a “rare exception” Saturday, in its president’s words, announcing its opposition to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
Citing “credible allegations that Judge Kavanaugh has engaged in serious misconduct that have not been adequately investigated by the Senate,” the ACLU’s national board of directors passed a resolution stating that “Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s credible testimony, subsequent allegations of sexual misconduct, the inadequate investigation, and Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony at the hearing lead us to doubt Judge Kavanaugh’s fitness to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.”
In a press release, the ACLU said it was the fourth time in the organization’s 98-year history that its national board had voted to oppose a Supreme Court nominee’s confirmation.
The press release said the resolution came after “an extraordinary meeting” of the ACLU’s national board.
ACLU president Susan Herman (pictured above) said in the same release that the board was “deeply concerned by the allegations raised in recent weeks.”
“As a nonpartisan organization, the ACLU does not oppose Judge Kavanaugh based on predictions about how he would vote as a Justice. We oppose him in light of the credible allegations of sexual assault against him,” Herman added.
While the ACLU did not officially oppose Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation, Executive Director Anthony D. Romero wrote in a statement at the time: “Judge Gorsuch’s record, including his decision in the Hobby Lobby case, raises questions about whether he would allow businesses and individuals to opt out of nondiscrimination laws based on religious objections. And his commitment to an ‘originalist’ theory of constitutional interpretation that disregards our nation’s evolving understandings of constitutional rights is also of concern.”
In Arizona, the ACLU made the similarly rare decision to involve itself in the state’s Republican Senate primary this summer, running television ads and going door-to-door, without formally endorsing or opposing any one candidate.
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) eventually won the nomination, beating out former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and state senator Kelli Ward. McSally will face Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) in November to determine who will fill retiring Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) seat.
The press release says it’s the fourth time they’ve done this, not the ninth.
It doesn’t identify the other three, but earlier press releases do:
Rehnquist (for associate justice, not chief justice), Bork, and Alito.
Hope this brings their average to .500 …
From a different perspective, one could say the ACLU is batting 1,000.
So what’s the count now? I can think of the ABA, the ACLU, Yale Law School, and the Jesuits expressing some degree of reservations about Kavanaugh. At least he still has Trump and the Evangelicals…
As they should
For Reasons , a little ol’ thing called the constitution.
This explains a lot about the rush
Forget Roe Vs Wade
“Passing this on:
On next month’s SCOTUS docket is Gamble vs US. No 17-646. This is what the rush is about. Yes, they want him to overturn Roe, yes they want him to drag us all back, but they need him seated for October to rule on that specific case. At stakes is the “separate sovereigns” exception to double jeopardy. If he (and the other 4 conservative judges) vote to overrule it, people given presidential pardons for federal crimes cannot be tried for that crime at the state level. Bam. Trump can pardon the lot of them and they have nothing to fear from state’s attorneys.”