SCOTUS battles

[Princess of Tap]

1 hour ago, mr6666 said:

The Hill‏Verified account @thehill 2h2 hours ago

 

 

Protesters dress in Handmaid's Tale outfits outside Kavanaugh hearing http://hill.cm/CqfDumb 

 

2 minutes ago, Princess of Tap said:

Nippy, I've got to give the Hawaiian Senator Hirono some credit because she took your mind off the California Senator Harris. You usually spend a lot of time discussing that particular senator. If I can recall, it seems like Senator Harris got the ball rolling in Kavanaugh's "confirmation" hearing.

 It's good to see women involved in discussions concerning the rights and health of women in America.

 

 

[mr6666]

Kavanaugh's extreme beliefs on gun control ignore the concerns of most Americans

The judge's consideration of only the Second Amendment’s text and history, ignoring public safety, is straight out of the gun lobby’s playbook.

 

" Kavanaugh is an originalist who reads the Second Amendment to mean that guns can be regulated only in the context of early U.S. history. Under his rigid view of the Constitution, critical safety measures would be struck down just because nobody considered them in 1791, when the Second Amendment was ratified.

 

Newer laws that take guns away from abusive husbands or partners, and from distraught or mentally disturbed individuals, could be overturned. Laws that regulate access to assault-style weapons — far more lethal than anything our Founding Fathers could have imagined — are also at risk. ...

 

In a 2011 opinion, for example, Kavanaugh dissented from the decision of two Republican-appointed judges, arguing that Washington’s gun-registration law and ban on assault weapons violate the Second Amendment.

 

Kavanaugh’s illogical claim was that public safety should play no role in determining the constitutionality of public safety laws. ...

 

The Constitution does not force judges to ignore modern dangers and the latest research on how to keep Americans safe from violence. Other judges have rightly decided that because firearms pose a “direct risk” to people, Second Amendment analyses should reflect those risks.

This isn’t a partisan issue: Judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans have considered public safety and upheld laws designed to reduce gun deaths and injuries. Reagan appointees Douglas Ginsburg, Frank Easterbrook and J. Harvie Wilkinson, for example, all voted to uphold assault weapon bans.

 

 

Kavanaugh’s extreme take on the Second Amendment would undermine other constitutional rights as well. Everyone has the right to attend church and peacefully protest against hate groups without risk they will be shot. But Kavanaugh’s interpretation prioritizes the rights of gun owners and carriers over the rights of the many more Americans who have been threatened and traumatized by gun violence, domestic abuse and rampage shootings.

 

In fact, Trump’s nomination reflects his own deep ties to the NRA, which wields great influence over the administration and its policies. It’s time for Americans to reject this influence and demand a Supreme Court nominee who will respect that gun rights go hand-in-hand with the responsibility to follow the law — including the reasonable regulations that the majority of Americans andgun owners support.

 

Our senators now have a choice: Are they going to stand with and protect the vast majority of Americans to ensure the safety of families and communities? Or are they going to stand with Kavanaugh and the NRA?

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/brett-kavanaugh-s-extreme-beliefs-gun-control-ignore-concerns-most-ncna906296?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

 

 

 

[mr6666]

Natasha Bertrand‏Verified account @NatashaBertrand 2h2 hours ago

 

 

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter died in the Parkland shooting, tells @cnn that

Kavanaugh not only wouldn’t shake his hand—he asked security to remove Guttenberg from the hearing,

and identified him by the bracelets he wears to commemorate his daughter.

[Princess of Tap]

22 hours ago, jakeem said:

Jennifer Bendery‏Verified account @jbendery

A reminder that since January, Sen. Mazie Hirono has been asking *every* Trump nominee in her committees, under oath, about any sexual harassment in their past. Top defense officials. Judges. It's awkward and pointed every time. Brett Kavanaugh is next.

 

[Vautrin]

6 hours ago, TheCid said:

Has Mueller or other prosecutor actually used the phrase "unindicted co-conspirator?"  Just because Cohen plead guilty or Manafort got convicted, does mean there are unindicted co-conspirators.  As I recall during the Nixon investigations, the Special Prosecutor actually used the phrase.

I know Mueller hasn't. But since Cohen said that he violated campaign finance law at Trump's

direction, many legal scholars think it's pretty clear that Donny is an UCC, also based on the

theory that sitting presidents cannot be indicted.

[ChristineHoard]

2 hours ago, mr6666 said:

Natasha Bertrand‏Verified account @NatashaBertrand 2h2 hours ago

 

 

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter died in the Parkland shooting, tells @cnn that

Kavanaugh not only wouldn’t shake his hand—he asked security to remove Guttenberg from the hearing,

and identified him by the bracelets he wears to commemorate his daughter.

This shows you what kind of person Kavanaugh is.  He wouldn't even shake an outstretched hand of a dad whose daughter died in a mass school shooting.  Let that one sink in.

[Sukhov]

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/no-kavanaugh-scotus-has-enough-executive-branch-creatures/

No Kavanaugh: SCOTUS Has Enough Executive Branch Creatures

Trump's nominee would only compound the Supreme Court’s troublesome pro-presidential jurisprudence.

The United States Supreme Court is packed with executive branch creations. It has been that way for more than 50 years as the nation opted for an empire lead by a Caesar in lieu of a republic fortified and informed by a separation of powers. Judge Brett Kavanaugh would compound rather than diminish the Supreme Court’s troublesome pro-presidential jurisprudence.  

An optimal appointee would be Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah). The Senator discerns that the executive branch is everywhere extending the sphere of its activity, and drawing all power into its impetuous vortex. Among other things, the presidency has usurped the congressional power to declare war and the Senate’s power to ratify treaties, killed American citizens without due process, spied on citizens without warrants, invoked state secrets to evade congressional or judicial oversight, and, exercised absolute line-item veto power through counter-constitutional signing statements.   

At present, five of the eight sitting Justices are creatures of the executive branch schooled in exalting the president and deprecating Congress: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch. All came to the high court with substantial prior service in executive branch. None had served in Congress, except Justice Thomas who served an abbreviated stint as legislative assistant to Senator John Danforth (R-Mich.) from 1979 to 1981. The justice then served nine years in the executive branch as assistant secretary of education for the office of civil rights and chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

[jamesjazzguitar]

12 hours ago, ChristineHoard said:

This shows you what kind of person Kavanaugh is.  He wouldn't even shake an outstretched hand of a dad whose daughter died in a mass school shooting.  Let that one sink in.

Dems should stop the BS theater (they already know enough about Kavanaugh),  and just vote against the appointment.    Oh,  put wait they don't have the votes to stop his appointment.  So they play their silly game.

 

[Bogie56]

Opinion Support for Republicans and for Kavanaugh crumbles Voting against Kavanaugh may be politically smart. By Jennifer Rubin  •  Read more »

[Princess of Tap]

14 minutes ago, Bogie56 said:

Opinion Support for Republicans and for Kavanaugh crumbles Voting against Kavanaugh may be politically smart. By Jennifer Rubin  •  Read more »

He's going to get "Borked".

[jamesjazzguitar]

58 minutes ago, Princess of Tap said:

He's going to get "Borked".

I just don't see it.    GOP Senators still support him.   It will take at least 2 GOP Senators to vote NO and so far I have yet to see two say they will.

Also,  the polling results are national,  which has NO relationship to a Senate confirmation.     Yea, the vast majority in CA and NY have different views on many subjects, like gun-control;   BUT these states only have 2 Senators. 

PS:  When Bork was 'borked' the Dems had 54 Senate seats.    While 6 GOP Senators decided to vote 'NO',   the Dems didn't need them since the Dems had a majority in the Senate.  (the final vote was 42-58).    Therefore there is no historical connection between the two appointments.

 

 

 

[Sukhov]

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-chaos-that-brett-kavanaugh-has-unleashed/

The Chaos That Brett Kavanaugh Has Unleashed

By deferring to a secretive and manipulative White House, rather than showing baseline independence, the Supreme Court nominee has made his confirmation hearing a charade.

nominee for the United States Supreme Court, especially a relatively obscure nominee like Judge Brett Kavanaugh, will necessarily be seen as an extension of the president who placed his or her name in contention. But during the confirmation process, the nominee is defined by the way in which he or she responds to the reasonable and necessary demands of the US senators who will decide whether to endorse the president’s selection.

Unfortunately, since Donald Trump announced his choice on July 9, Kavanaugh has failed to distinguish himself as anything more than the president’s dutiful minion. The controversial former White House aide—who advocates for an extreme view of executive privilege that would put sitting presidents above the law—has made no effort to present himself as an independent nominee. Nor has he displayed baseline respect for a process that cannot function without transparency and timely responses to requests for documents.

By failing to stand up for himself and for an independent judiciary, by letting the Trump White House manage every aspect of his bid for a life term on the most powerful court in the land, Kavanaugh has reinforced concerns that he will be nothing more than a highly-placed advocate for the imperial presidency to which Trump assumes he is entitled.

[mr6666]

Senator Dick Durbin‏Verified account @SenatorDurbin 27m27 minutes ago

 

 

Today I asked Judge Kavanaugh whether he would ask Republicans to stop the concealment and make his full record public for the American people.

He refused. #WhatAreTheyHiding

[mr6666]

The Kavanaugh Nomination Must Be Paused.

And He Must Recuse Himself.

The Supreme Court’s own precedent makes a strong case for why the Senate needs to know more as it assesses the current nominee.

".....The confirmation process itself has been rushed and thwarted by the majority, yielding a paltry fraction of the nominee’s White House records needed to evaluate him, with over 100,000 pages withheld based on sweeping and unsubstantiated “constitutional privilege” claims made late on the last business day before the hearing began. Then, over 40,000 of the nominee’s documents were released to the Senate with no real time for review on the evening before the hearing.....

. The hearings must be paused to allow proper production and review of the documentary record followed by full consideration of the relevant facts and controlling law.

The constitutional principles mandating Kavanaugh’s recusal were given form in three recent Supreme Court decisions......

If the Senate instead pushes forward with the nomination under these circumstances, it will exacerbate the dangers for our democracy already posed by Trump’s attacks on the rule of law and on those charged with neutrally implementing it—and by his efforts to politicize law enforcement, demonize the media, and attack our system of checks and balances. .......

If, as the media is reporting, Kavanaugh will not commit to recuse from all matters relating to the president’s personal legal exposure, he will be offending the Constitution’s design—

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/09/04/kavanaugh-hearings-recuse-himself-supreme-court-219635

 

As important as the broken process is this stark fact: Never before has a president made a Supreme Court nomination with so many matters of deep personal importance to that president poised to come before the court. A president facing existential legal jeopardy cannot be permitted to pick his own justice to decide his case—especially a justice whose apparent views of presidential authority are expansive to say the least, who is deeply beholden to that president, and who seems likely to hold the decisive vote.

[mr6666]

Giffords‏Verified account @GiffordsCourage 4h4 hours ago

 

 

Brett Kavanaugh just said that assault weapons can’t be distinguished from handguns.

He also said that assault weapons are “commonly used”

and not a “dangerous and unusual weapon.”

 

Tell that to anyone who’s lost a child in a school shooting. #WeCallBS #StopKavanaugh

[mr6666]

Facts Do Matter‏ @WilDonnelly 3h3 hours ago

 

 

Kavanaugh lied under oath to the Senate in 2004 and 2006,

but has now been coached to lie again to say he thought he was answering a different question.

No wonder the Republicans have to keep thousands of documents of his time at the White House hidden from the committee.

[mr6666]

The Hill‏Verified account @thehill 2h2 hours ago

 

 

Activists pledge over $360k to Collins' future Dem opponent

if she votes for Kavanaugh http://hill.cm/6XM9Mmb 

[mr6666]

Ted Lieu‏Verified account @tedlieu 5h5 hours ago

 

Kavanaugh is not making any sense.

He can't call US v. Nixon one of the greatest Supreme Court cases

& then decline to answer whether @POTUS can be subpoenaed.

That was the point of US v. Nixon, that no one is above the law & the President can be subpoenaed. #KavanaughHearings

[jamesjazzguitar]

17 minutes ago, mr6666 said:

The Hill‏Verified account @thehill 2h2 hours ago

 

 

Activists pledge over $360k to Collins' future Dem opponent

if she votes for Kavanaugh http://hill.cm/6XM9Mmb 

I'm sure there are many GOP lead PAC's that will donate twice as much to her if she does vote for the appointment.

Either way,  she is the most likely GOP Senator to break with the Party.  The fact the Dems still feel they need to intimidate her,  shows how weak the Dems are.

 

[NipkowDisc]

28 minutes ago, mr6666 said:

The Kavanaugh Nomination Must Be Paused.

And He Must Recuse Himself...otherwise a naked mazie hirono will moon him.

edited by me

 

[mr6666]

Neal Katyal‏Verified account @neal_katyal 4h4 hours ago

 

 

Here’s a whopper:

Sen. Grassley says they have provided unprecedented access to documents.

Um. No. 100k pages have executive priv assertions.

42k pages dumped on comte 36 hours ago.

There’s a 35 month black hole w zero documents while Kav at WH.

 

Nothing like Justice Kagan’s docs

[mr6666]

The Hill‏Verified account @thehill 18m18 minutes ago

 

 

Schumer forces Senate to adjourn to protest Trump admin withholding Kavanaugh records http://hill.cm/2Z74FdU 

[LawrenceA]

Kavanaugh Packing Gun At Congressional Hearing In Case Parkland Father Tries To Shake His Hand Again

WASHINGTON—Fearing for his safety after an incident with Fred Guttenberg the previous day, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was reportedly packing a gun at his Senate hearing Wednesday in case the father of a Parkland shooting victim tried to shake his hand again. “If that son-of-a-***** comes up and threatens to greet me one more time, he’s got another thing coming,” said a jumpy Kavanaugh, who concealed a semi-automatic pistol in his belt to protect himself against the gun control activist as he appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, reaching toward the firearm several times believing he saw Guttenberg approaching to introduce himself out of the corner of his vision.

“I’m not going to sit here unable to defend myself against people trying to meet me—I know my Second Amendment rights. This is my confirmation hearing, and if that bastard comes at me again, I’m going to blow off his damn hand.” At press time, a frightened Kavanaugh had grabbed his gun to stand his ground against a threatening black man and shot Senator Cory Booker.

https://politics.theonion.com/kavanaugh-packing-gun-at-congressional-hearing-in-case-1828832819

[mr6666]

Senator Dick Durbin‏Verified account @SenatorDurbin

 

Judge Kavanaugh claims he follows Supreme Court precedent.

But in Agri Processor v. NLRB, he ignored a 7-2 Supreme Court decision

and bent over backwards to take the side of a company against the workers it abused.

[mr6666]

Sen. Patrick Leahy‏Verified account @SenatorLeahy

 

 

 

 

Here are more emails. It is simply not ‘normal’ to get real-time insider intelligence from a Democratic “mole” and marked “spying.”

Red flags abound. And with 102,000 documents withheld by the Trump WH, mostly about judicial noms, we can bet there’s more.