Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings: Day 2

Well that was a hell of a Day 1, wasn’t it?

Despite the excitement for procedure nerds, not much of substance really happened — they only got through opening statement. But, at long last here we are at Day 2, when the actual questions begin. I’m sure Brett Kavanaugh will hear questions about Roe v. Wade, executive power, guns and *maybe* sexual harassment.

So let’s go through some of the best tweets that legal Twitter has to offer on what’s going on today (we’ll be updating this story throughout the day with the latest and greatest as the hearings continue):

Grassley notes that "no one is above the law." Kavanaugh resists natural urge to say, "except the president, of course."

— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) September 5, 2018

Grassley and Kavanaugh move quickly to inoculate him against expected Democratic questions on U.S. v Nixon and protecting president. Here's a previous story on the issue https://t.co/jGMLByJV32

— Robert Barnes (@scotusreporter) September 5, 2018

"Let them have their free speech" Chairman Grassley says wearily about protesters who keep interrupting Kavanaugh.
(Protesters are being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, for what it's worth)

— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) September 5, 2018

Grassley's giving a stellar case for why he should have confirmed Merrick Garland right now.

— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) September 5, 2018

Judge Kavanaugh: My personal beliefs are not relevant to how I decide cases. Role of precedent is to ensure stability & predictability in the law, which is critically important. People rely on decisions of the courts. Precedent reinforces independence & impartiality of judiciary.

— RNLA (@TheRepLawyer) September 5, 2018

#Kavanaugh says #SCOTUS precedent required his decision, but his colleagues disagreed. Here's what Judge Ginsburg said: "[u]nlike our dissenting colleague, we read Heller straightforwardly. [SCOTUS] there left open and untouched even by implication the issue presented . . . .” pic.twitter.com/D1oGyN0fTP

— Brianne Gorod (@BrianneGorod) September 5, 2018

Feinstein's decision to start with guns appears to be paying dividends as Kavanaugh argues that AR-15s and the like cannot be regulated under the constitution because they are widely-owned. (There's a passage in Scalia's decision in Heller that says essentially the opposite.)

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 5, 2018

Shorter @SenFeinstein: "Are you a Republican?"#Kavanaugh: "Yup."
Feinstein: "I don't like that."
Kavanaugh: "k"

*This* is why the Dems didn't walk out of the hearing? For this?

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) September 5, 2018

Kavanaugh: "I don't know what you mean by the Bush White House." Neither did Bush.

— Eric Segall (@espinsegall) September 5, 2018

Kavanaugh notes that Roe "has been reaffirmed many times … most importantly in Planned Parenthood v Casey."

Kavanaugh: "I understand the importance of the issue. … I don't live in a bubble. I live in the real world."

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) September 5, 2018

Kavanaugh explains how 9/11 completely changed his worldview. Originalism in action!!!

— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) September 5, 2018

 

Judge Brett Kavanaugh clarifies his position on United States v. Nixon, which he considers one of the four great moments in #SCOTUS history (Marbury, Youngstown, Brown, Nixon). #KavanaughConfirmation

— David Lat (@DavidLat) September 5, 2018

After months of watching nominees get beat up over Brown v. Board, Kavanaugh's bending over backward to keep giving it lip service.

— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) September 5, 2018

Thomas, Alito, Roberts and Gorsuch used the same playbook: 1. Profess loyalty to precedent in Senate hearings 2. Overturn precedent once on the bench. We can’t accept vague promises from Brett Kavanaugh when women’s reproductive freedom is at stake.

— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) September 5, 2018

Why is it OK for Kavanaugh to say whether US v Nixon (1974) was rightly decided but not to say whether Roe v Wade (1973) was rightly decided? Both are controversial cases of a similar vintage that are likely to affect SCOTUS decisions while Kavanaugh is on the bench

— Daniel Hemel (@DanielJHemel) September 5, 2018

Real problem for Kavanaugh:

"I have never taken a position on the Constitution" on question of president being subject to criminal process (reply to @SenFeinstein). He says wrote only advice for Congress.

That's not accurate, as Bob Bauer and I wrote:https://t.co/WE9odbokeJ

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) September 5, 2018

Kavanaugh refusing to answer @SenFeinstein’s direct Q abt whether US v Nixon was correctly decided. He says he cannot answer this Q that could come before him. He answered it outside hearing rm at a public event that it may have been wrongly decided. Why won’t he answer it now?

— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) September 5, 2018

Was Watergate tapes rightly decided? "Yes," Kavanaugh says, calling AP's and others' reports that he had questioned outcome out of context. Kavanaugh also refuses to says whether a president could be subpoenaed in a criminal case

— Mark Sherman (@shermancourt) September 5, 2018

Hatch asks what loyalty he owes to Trump

Kavanaugh says he owes loyalty to the constitution

This exchange is exactly why people hate these hearings and call them meaningless

— Jessica Mason Pieklo (@Hegemommy) September 5, 2018

Sen. Hatch asks if J.Kav will be independent if a Trump case comes before him. J.Kav answers saying he is an independent judge and always has been. I agree-he will be independent. The harder Q is if J.Kav was picked b/c of his preexisting views on these Qs and Pres power/subpoena

— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) September 5, 2018

As Hatch questions Kavanaugh, try to follow this flow:

Judge Kavanaugh, President Bush's former Staff Secretary, recommended Rob Porter, Orrin Hatch's Chief of Staff, to be Trump's Staff Secretary.

— Mike Sacks (@MikeSacksEsq) September 5, 2018

Kavanaugh then cites a Greenhouse NYT piece on the lack of women law clerks at SCOTUS.

Kavanaugh said that made him think about what he could do about this problem

— Jessica Mason Pieklo (@Hegemommy) September 5, 2018

Hatch says Koz questions amount to "guilt by association." Kavanaugh did, you know, help run Kozinski's hiring process. But now he acts like he barely met the guy.

— Joe Patrice (@JosephPatrice) September 5, 2018

Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings: Day 2 curated from Above the Law