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Brett Kavanaugh: Our Newest Supreme Court Justice
The Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S Supreme Court with a 50-48 vote. Kavanaugh was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy on Saturday in a private ceremony.
Last week’s confirmation hearings centered around the sexual assault allegations made against Kavanaugh. The process was emotional, highly partisan, and borderline embarrassing.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation cements a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. Many fear that Kavanaugh’s presence threatens Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, and healthcare.
Instead of adding useless commentary to an arena already jam-packed with partisan opinions, I want to highlight a few of Kavanaugh’s often overlooked qualifications…
- Graduated Yale College and Yale Law School, where he was an editor on Law Review.
- Clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
- Served 5+ years in the White House as Staff Secretary and Associate White House Counsel.
- Became partner at a respected law firm, where he wrote several Supreme Court briefs and argued before the Supreme Court.
- Co-authored a leading book on judicial precedent and has published nine articles in respected academic law journals.
- Served on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for 12 years, writing more that 300 opinions – 13 of which have been vindicated by the Supreme Court.
- Spent 25 of his 28 years of his career in public service.
Kavanaugh’s legal qualifications are difficult to dispute regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum.
However, it’s Kavanaugh’s character, not his legal mind, that has the country divided.
Given the nature of sexual assault allegations, we will likely never know the full truth regarding Kavanaugh’s past. Despite this uncertainty, we must carry on and accept Kavanaugh as our newest Supreme Court Justice.
We should end the hateful dialogue that is widening the partisan divide and instead use our voices where they count – in the polls.
I choose to remain cautiously optimistic about Kavanaugh. I implore you to do the same. As the Dalai Lama once said, “Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”
Read more at Whitehouse.gov and Bloomberg
Family of NFL Hall of Famer Reaches Settlement with the NFL:
The family of Junior Seau, an NFL Hall of Famer who killed himself in 2012, reached an undisclosed settlement with the NFL in their wrongful death suit.
Seau suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition that can only be definitively diagnosed through an autopsy. The lawsuit alleged that Seau’s brain damage led to his suicide.
Hopefully this settlement closes the litigious chapter in the lives of Seau’s family and brings them peace.
Read more at Reuters
Digital LSAT on the Horizon for Law School Hopefuls:
Having to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) is one of the more unpleasant experiences lawyers have to go through – right behind taking a state bar exam. So forgive me for bringing up bad memories.
The LSAT will transition into a digital format beginning in 2019. The digital test will mimic the paper test in substance but includes additional capabilities. Test takers will be able to highlight portions of the questions, rule out answers, and see how much time they have remaining.
Sounds promising – except I can’t imagine working through a logic game digitally. I sure hope they provide test takers with a ton of scratch paper.
Read more at ABA Journal
via The Lawyers Post
Brendan Bald 