A Judge Who Can't Be Vetted Shouldn't Be Confirmed

[babylonsister]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/a-judge-who-cant-be-vetted-shouldnt-be-confirmed/569422/

A Judge Who Can’t Be Vetted Shouldn’t Be Confirmed
If Brett Kavanaugh’s extensive paper trail can’t be fully and publicly disclosed, the simplest solution is to nominate someone else.
Sep 5, 2018
Garrett Epps
Professor of constitutional law at the University of Baltimore

snip//

There is simply no legitimate reason why hearings for a nominee must be expedited to such a pace that the members of the committee are denied access to the nominee’s record—and have no time to examine even the fraction of papers they are given. There is also no legitimate reason why executive and private officials should be allowed to withhold relevant documents from a Senate committee exercising its constitutional responsibility, or that documents like those Leahy cited should be made available to the committee but withheld from the public.

snip//

If an applicant for a powerful lifetime position cannot provide the needed documents to vet him, the answer is not to drop the vetting; it is to nominate another person, who can provide what reasonable process demands. Vetting is a constitutional requirement, not an obstacle to be dodged. If the people’s representatives can’t vet Kavanaugh, then the president should bring them a nominee they can vet.

The reasons stem primarily from the president and Congress’s responsibility to the nation. An incompletely vetted nominee may pose a security threat to the nation. (Remember Sally Yates notifying the White House that then–National-Security Adviser Michael Flynn was at risk for blackmail?) An incompletely vetted nominee may in fact have disqualifying facts in the concealed record. (Remember Senator Hugo Black, who was confirmed in haste and then found to have been a member of the Ku Klux Klan as a young man?) But even if the nominee has no concealed blot on his or her record, a rushed vetting process will forever leave suspicions in the minds of the public, especially those who lack confidence in the president who has made the appointment.

[AndJusticeForSome]

1. That those words need to even be printed is scary enough

Sign of the times, for sure.

[Jane Austin]

2. Amen!

And anything he does answer is with weasel words.

[kentuck]

3. Nobody knows how this Trump/Russia thing is going to turn out?

The Republicans "dissed" the Democrats with their sudden desire to get another judge on the Supreme Court, after already putting Gorsuch on the bench.

Obviously, McConnell has never heard of Karma. I'm hoping the Democrats take back the House and the Senate. It would only be fair.