(We occasionally will present and contrast view points that differ in insight. From time to time we will feature them here. Please read the 3 articles below)
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The confirmation battle over Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's pick to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, is set to intensify when hearings on his nomination start Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh, 53, currently serves as a judge on the powerful US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Here's where he stands on some hot-button issues:
Roe v. Wade
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told reporters in August that Kavanaugh informed her that he considers Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, to be settled law.
Kavanaugh has not expressed outright opposition to Roe v. Wade. In 2006, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, now the Senate Democratic leader, pressed Kavanaugh on his personal opinion about Roe, but he declined to answer, saying, "I don't think it would be appropriate for me to give a personal view on that case." The exchange took place during a hearing to consider Kavanaugh's nomination to serve on the DC circuit.
Kavanaugh did say, however, that if he became a judge on the circuit court, he would uphold Supreme Court precedent with respect to Roe. "If confirmed to the DC Circuit, I would follow Roe v. Wade faithfully and fully. That would be binding precedent of the court. It has been decided by the Supreme Court," he said at the time. (The Supreme Court, of course, can overturn its previous decisions.)
Because Kennedy was a swing vote in favor of abortion rights, his departure from the court has sparked alarm among abortion rights activists that Roe v. Wade could be overturned. In addition, Trump has long vowed to appoint justices who would reverse Roe and allow the states to determine whether abortion should be legal.
Abortion
One of Kavanaugh's opinions likely to draw scrutiny from senators is his dissent from a ruling of the DC Circuit last October that an undocumented immigrant teen in detention was entitled to seek an abortion.
In his dissent, Kavanaugh wrote the Supreme Court has held that "the government has permissible interests in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests of a minor, and refraining from facilitating abortion." He wrote that the high court has "held that the government may further those interests so long as it does not impose an undue burden on a woman seeking an abortion." He said the majority opinion was "based on a constitutional principle as novel as it is wrong: a new right for unlawful immigrant minors in US government detention to obtain immediate abortion on demand."
Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, left, meets with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a member of the Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 18, 2018. The Senate GOP leadership wants to have the confirmation process for Kavanaugh completed in time for him to join the high court at the start of its new term in October. Sen. Lee had been among President Donald Trump's finalists for the seat to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. (J. Scott Applewhite, AP Photo, File)
Executive branch authority
Democrats are likely to make Kavanaugh's views on presidential power a focus of the hearings.
In a 2009 Minnesota Law Review article, Kavanaugh wrote that "Congress might consider a law exempting a President -- while in office -- from criminal prosecution and investigation, including from questioning by criminal prosecutors or defense counsel." In the same article, however, he noted, "If the President does something dastardly, the impeachment process is available.". Read more
Article 2: Points of View: Five reasons Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court is controversiall
Source-USA Today-
Brett Kavanaugh's substantial record as a federal appeals court judge over the past 12 years has taken a back seat to other issues since President Donald Trump nominated him on July 9. Here are the five major controversies:
Most important seat
This isn't just any Supreme Court seat. It's Anthony Kennedy's. The retired justice represented the swing vote on key issues, often siding with the court's four liberal justices. In the past three years alone, that included abortion rights, affirmative action and same-sex marriage.
“The rhetoric is now overheated because we are talking about replacing Justice Kennedy,” says John Malcolm, vice president at the conservative Heritage Foundation, which helped assemble Trump's list of 25 potential nominees. "From the Democrats' perspective, this matters more."
Partisan background
Brett Kavanaugh walks behind independent counsel Ken Starr, right, during the investigation of President Bill Clinton. Brett Kavanaugh walks behind independent counsel Ken Starr, right, during the investigation of President Bill Clinton. (Photo: Associated Press)
Kavanaugh's years investigating President Bill Clinton as part of independent counsel Ken Starr's team and working in the White House for President George W. Bush represent an unusually partisan background for a judge. But, despite the release of hundreds of thousands of pages, much of it remains under wraps
“We have lawyers going over these documents day and night and weekends. They are so redacted," says Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice. She says Republicans have tried to "hide any information that might be damaging.”
Missing documents
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, seek to refute Senate Democrats' claim that the panel has not released enough documents relating to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, seek to refute Senate Democrats' claim that the panel has not released enough documents relating to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (Photo: AP)
As a deputy White House counsel and Bush's staff secretary from 2001-06, Kavanaugh was involved in myriad policy decisions and political disputes. That translates into the biggest paper trail for any high court nominee, but most of it has not been released because Senate Republicans claim it's irrelevant. Read more
Article 3: JUDGE KAVANAUGH IS AN EXTRAORDINARILY QUALIFIED NOMINEE, CONSISTENTLY AMONG THE BEST OF THE BEST IN THE LAW.
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Judge Kavanaugh has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for twelve years. That court is widely considered the second-most important court in the nation; three current justices also served there.
Judge Kavanaugh has written opinions in nearly 300 cases dealing with some of the most complicated issues arising in the federal courts. The Supreme Court has endorsed his positions in high-stakes issues at unparalleled rate; thirteen Supreme Court decisions have endorsed positions advocated in his opinions.
Edith Roberts of Scotusblog describes him as “bring[ing] a pragmatic approach to judging . . . his judicial philosophy is conservative, and he has applied principles of textualism and originalism espoused by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.”
Judge Kavanaugh has extensive experience in the executive branch, working in President George W. Bush’s administration as Associate Counsel and Senior Associate Counsel to the President, as well as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary to the President.
Judge Kavanaugh served in Ken Starr’s Office of Independent Counsel during the Clinton Administration.
Judge Kavanaugh and Justice Gorsuch clerked together for Justice Kennedy.
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