In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, 48 members of the Yale Law School faculty called for an FBI investigation into professor Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault accusation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“Where, as here, a sexual assault has been alleged against an individual nominated for a lifetime appointment in a position of public trust, a partisan hearing alone cannot be the forum to determine the truth of the matter,” the letter reads. “Allegations of sexual assault require a neutral factfinder and an investigation that can ascertain facts fairly.”
Notably, Dean Heather Gerken, who Thursday wrote in a letter to the law school community that she was “enormously concerned” over reports that Yale professors coached their female students to have a “certain look” that Kavanaugh liked in his clerks, did not sign the letter.
Read the faculty members’ letter here:
As the Senate Judiciary Committee debates Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, we write as faculty members of Yale Law School, from which Judge Kavanaugh graduated, to urge that the Senate conduct a fair and deliberate confirmation process. With so much at stake for the Supreme Court and the nation, we are concerned about a rush to judgment that threatens both the integrity of the process and the public’s confidence in the Court.
Where, as here, a sexual assault has been alleged against an individual nominated for a lifetime appointment in a position of public trust, a partisan hearing alone cannot be the forum to determine the truth of the matter. Allegations of sexual assault require a neutral factfinder and an investigation that can ascertain facts fairly. Those at the FBI or others tasked with such an investigation must have adequate time to investigate facts. Fair process requires evidence from all parties with direct knowledge and consultation of experts when evaluating such evidence. In subsequent hearings, all of those who testify, and particularly women testifying about sexual assault, must be treated with respect.
The confirmation process must always be conducted, and appointments made, in a manner that gives Americans reason to trust the Supreme Court. Some questions are so fundamental to judicial integrity that the Senate cannot rush past them without undermining the public’s confidence in the Court. This is particularly so for an appointment that will yield a deciding vote on women’s rights and myriad other questions of immense consequence in American lives.
Drip… Drip…Drip
He’s going down
Death by 1000 cuts
The minutes later letter of 65 proving they knew all along
Nice try amateurs
Your incompetence exposed .
You’re going to have a tough time finding someone now who will even take the nomination
So who is going to be the first R to tell about those “liberal snowflakes from Yale”?
I suggest a one of the Bushes
Bravo! Finally the legal profession begins to stand up for due process! Where is the American Bar Association? State Bar Associations? Individual lawyers who understand that the justice system is a core component of a democracy?
How can an appointment to the Supreme Court who accepts that cheating to get there is acceptable be other than a cheater?
I do wonder what this will do to the court itself. It’s unlikely that lawyers arguing cases before the court will dare ask kavanaugh to recuse, even on matters where he has a clear conflict. But other justices, even gorsuch, are going to have a tough time working with a probable felon. And the incentives for clerks to leak will be well nigh impossible to resist.