Issues for Brett Kavanaugh: the president who chose him and the Supreme Court he would change

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Two factors animate U.S. Appeals Court Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s crucial Supreme Court confirmation hearings that begin Tuesday in the Senate: one is the justice he would succeed, and the other is the president who chose him.

A host of issues are at stake with the departure of the court’s pivotal justice, Anthony M. Kennedy, whose swing-vote jurisprudence did not fit neatly into a conservative or liberal box. Abortion, affirmative action, the interplay of religious beliefs and gay rights, and the government’s protection of the environment are among the issues affected by Kennedy’s departure, and Kavanaugh is likely to be to the right of Kennedy on all.

But this confirmation fight also comes as the powers of a special prosecutor to investigate President Trump are part of a national debate, with important constitutional decisions on executive power and prerogative possibly awaiting the high court.

The politics of the Trump age only add to the battle over a judge whose lifetime appointment could seal a consistently right-leaning majority that the conservative legal movement has long labored to establish.

“This is an appointment that almost certainly will change the ideological makeup of the court in a meaningful way,” said Lori A. Ringhand, a University of Georgia law professor with an expertise in Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Kavanaugh, 53, has a unique perspective on the issue of investigating the president. He spent years working for Kenneth Starr on the probe of President Bill Clinton, taking a hard line on what he termed Clinton’s lies and “pattern of revolting behavior” in connection with Clinton’s relationship with a White House intern. But Kavanaugh has since written that he believes a president should not be distracted by civil suits and criminal investigations while in office.

If Kavanaugh’s view is nuanced — he’s never said the Constitution prohibits such investigations — reaction from Democrats has been simple enough to fit in a tweet. Such as this one by Sen. Kamala D. Harris, the Democrat from California who will be among those on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioning Kavanaugh:

“The president is an unindicted co-conspirator in federal crimes and he has nominated someone to the Supreme Court who believes a sitting president should never be indicted.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/issues-for-brett-kavanaugh-the-president-who-chose-him-and-the-supreme-court-he-would-change/2018/09/01/09d2daca-ad28-11e8-a8d7-0f63ab8b1370_story.html?utm_term=.10c4397d96fc&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1

[mountain grammy]

1. Been listening to Eric Segal

who's pretty upset about Kavanaugh, but thinks there's no way to stop it. I'm calling the Senate every single day.. Not just my idiot Repub, who's already given K the green light, but others and a few Dems too. Is he worse than Gorsuch, that's a real low bar, and they'll both be there for 30-40 years. Unimaginable what this court can do to America. Republicans have always kept this goal number one. The Supreme Court can do anything and a radical court combined with a radical executive?

[BigmanPigman]

2. The only hope is that the Dems will increase the number of justices

once they are in control again. Until that happens our country is lost. Robert Reich thinks the fake prez and all that he has done should be annulled. I agree a million %. It also should be for the Senate and House since their elections were not separate and many people voted GOP down ballot and most likely the GOP was helped by Russian money and influences.