Our new Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, has been sworn in after a highly contentious confirmation process. The majority of the media attention — Left, Right, and that which tries to limit bias — was focused on his character, as defined by — admit it — unsubstantiated allegations.* To the extent that his judicial history has been adressed, that has largely been limited to Roe vs. Wade, and to a lesser degree Second Amendment issues. For better or worse, Kavanaugh will be ruling on cases.
Update: PollDaddy keeps duplicating the 2A response for some reason. I’ve even gone back and deleted the one, and it comes back. On another poll, it deleted all my answers; I had to go back and reenter them. I think it’s time for a new poll service.
Strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution as it was written.
As much as I’d like him to demand compliance with the written U.S. Constitution as the Founders’ intended, I expect he’ll push for adherence, tempered by a deference to existing SCOTUS precedent and law.
Thus, regardless of what the shrieking harpies on the Left want you to think, Roe v. Wade is probably safe. Cases touching the “right” to murder unborn human children tend to get resolved in lower courts based on the existing precedent; they don’t make it to SCOTUS anymore, so Kavanaugh’s opinions on the issue won’t make any difference. If one did, unless someone provides something new to consider — new evidence, or novel Constitutional arguments — he’s more likely to bow to existing precedent than break new legal ground.
All the hullabaloo over Roe v. Wade is, in the words of Shakespeare, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Roe vs. Wade: The guy said often enough that it’s settled, that there’s no reason to revisit it. Someone would have to come up with an extremely novel and persuasive argument just to get cert.
2A: I hope folks are right about that. But there’s that settled law thing again: infringements for “safety” are peachy. And… I recall hearing something about a nice, conservative Chief Justice who’d be good for the 2A… and hasn’t let an RKBA case be heard in nearly a decade.
4A: That one isn’t even in Kavanaugh’s copy of the Constitution, which folks might want to consider when challenging no-due process ERPOs.
I believe he will vote according to the Constitution BUT I also believe he is inclined to fall into the “precedent hole.” In Klayman v Obam he cited Smith v Maryland but only as binding on lower courts and Carpenter v US hadn’t yet been heard. He may feel that it’s his obligation to follow the Constitution “as written” or even by “original intent.” But this we know, he is the definition of a legal scholar.
My one real concern is also the 4th amendment. But that actually can overlap onto a lot of other areas of life. Traffic cameras and citations for running a red light, without the right to confront your accuser, stop and frisk, drunk driving checkpoints, asset forfeiture. All of these are issues that cause me to pause a little bit with him.
I actually think that he probably was the best choice at this time. There are others who will be even more conservative in the way that they might lean, but to try and push one of them through at this time, with the mid terms looming, would have been a tough sell, even for the most right leaning partisan.
It is important to remember that while he is replacing Justice Kennedy, and is more conservative, he is still only one vote. Looking at the body as a whole, I think that what is happening is a good trend, but never say it is a finished product.
The real fun will be if Ruthie Ginsberg leaves the bench and Trump gets to replace her. If the Senate picks up one or two votes, to where they don’t have to kiss a few holdout Senators behinds, like they have in the recent past, like McCain, or Flake, or Collins, etc., then they will most likely try to get the most conservative judge on the list seated.
The Democrats are crying and madder than a wet hornet, but the Republicans are only following their playbook. Pack the court to make it so you don’t have to bother with legislation. That is how we got abortion on demand, gay marriage, and some voter id laws tossed out. It does make one realize the importance of voting in the midterms.
All I can say is I have my fingers crossed.
Judge Kavanaugh has been consistently a government-knows-what-it’s-doing jurist, showing deference to written laws.
I wonder what lessons he took from what happened to him and his family during the hearings. I’m wondering if a libertarian is a conservative who has been mau-maued by Congress.
[/dreaming]
The Second Amendment questions are duplicates.
Yeah, PollDaddy keeps duplicating it for some reason. I’ve even gone back and deleted the one, and it comes back. On another poll, it deleted all my answers, and I had to go back and reenter them. I think it’s time for a new poll service.
Yes indeed pigpen51. The gubmint will be able to search, monitor and invade everything connected with you. Then when they find something, they’ll take your guns and make you a prohibited person. See how much better that is…