By George Binkley

In July, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh, formerly from the D.C. circuit court of appeals, to replace Anthony Kennedy’s seat in the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Kavanaugh would add another conservative view in the Supreme Court.

    However, his appointment was delayed after accusations of sexual assault. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor and alumni of Kavanaugh’s high school, claims Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in 1982.

   Dr. Ford did not want to go public with the accusation. She sent California’s Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein a letter describing what had happened 36 years ago. She said she wished to keep it confidential.

   Then word got out about the accusation. News publishers began to run stories about it. And Dr. Ford’s identity was revealed not too long after.  

   This caused a setback in Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. After Dr. Fords accusations, individuals from both parties in the Senate Judiciary Committee wanted to stop the confirmation hearing from going through. Some Senators, though, thought the allegations were false and wanted the confirmation pushed through.

   So far, three people have accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick.

   Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh both testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 27. Dr. Ford said Kavanaugh tried to sexually assault her at a party while he was drunk. Kavanaugh says he was a drinker in high school, but he denied the accusation of sexual assault.

   “Unfortunately I was not able to watch much of the testimony and much of my impression has been shaped by the media and what my colleagues have shared. I felt Mr. Kavanaugh was a bit too angry.” English teacher Rodney Allen said.

   The question is, are the accusations true? Many believe that the accusations are just to disrupt the confirmation. That there was never any assault. Then there are those who say that Dr. Ford is telling the truth and that she needs to be believed.

   If Dr. Ford’s accusations are proven to be viable, Judge Kavanaugh’s reputation would be destroyed and he would most likely not receive the seat in the Supreme Court.

   “Any rape accusation will greatly change a man’s life, even if it was proven false. I believe this will change the vote number but not enough to differ the results. Anyone that changes their vote on this even when it is proven false would be just plain stupid.” sophomore Charles Dillon said.

   The FBI launched a probe to investigate Kavanaugh. And the results are leading Republicans to believe that Kavanaugh will be getting confirmed. There are three key senators to the vote. Senator Jeff Flake, Senator Susan Collins and Senator Lisa Murkowski. Senator Collins and Senator Murkowski both say they are undecided until they have fully reviewed the Investigation. However, Senator Flake says “we’ve seen no additional corroborating information” to support the allegations.

   As of October 6, Judge Kavanaugh was confirmed onto the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roberts has requested an ethics investigation of Judge Kavanaugh.

Photo Provided by Creative Commons