Mitch McConnell, Unqualified Judges and the Death of Justice

 

How to Undo Mitch McConnell’s Packing of the Courts with Unqualified Judges

Mitch McConnell has been packing the courts with unqualified judges. Here is how we go about fairly, honestly and ethically unpacking the courts

 

Trump nominee for federal judge has never tried a case

Trump nominated Brett J. Talley, a 36 year old blogger who has practiced law for three years, has never tried a case and who thinks Hillary Clinton should be Jailed, for a lifetime appointment on the Federal Bench.

 

Every single one of these Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve the nomination of the 36 year old blogger with no trial experience. It’s bad enough that Trump nominated this guy, but it’s reasonable to expect Senators, most of whom are lawyers to provide some checks and balances from incompetent and inexperienced people being hired and employed in key positions.

This more proof Republicans are unqualified to be in positions of power.

 

Another totally unqualified Trump judicial nominee

Trump judicial nominee can’t answer basic legal questions. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questions Matthew Spencer Petersen, President Trump’s nominee for district court judge about his lack of experience trying cases in court.

 

Trump Nominates Anti-LGBTQ Extremist Jeff Mateer

Jeff Mateer, Trump’s nominee for a federal judgeship in Texas, believes that transgender children are evidence of “Satan’s plan,” supports the dangerous and debunked practice of so-called “conversion therapy,” and thinks marriage equality will lead to bestiality.

 

Republicans Confirm Judge Rated ‘Not Qualified’ For Being ‘Lazy,’ ‘Arrogant’

 

TAKE ACTION: Protect Our Courts

Tell Senators Cortez Masto and Rosen to vote ‘NO’ on Lawrence VanDyke for the 9th Circuit!

Per the above petition; President Trump has nominated former Nevada Solicitor General, Lawrence VanDyke, for a lifetime judgeship on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Last month, the American Bar Association took the rare step of rating VanDyke as “unqualified,” noting colleagues of his who were interviewed consistently gave this description: “arrogant, lazy, an ideologue and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice, including procedural rules. There was a theme that the nominee lacks humility, has an ‘entitlement’ temperament, does not have an open mind, and does not always have a commitment to being candid and truthful.” Furthermore, they were concerned “about whether Mr. VanDyke would be fair to persons who are gay, lesbian or otherwise part of the LGBTQ community.”

The American Bar Association took the rare step of rating VanDyke as “unqualified,” noting colleagues of his who were interviewed consistently gave this description: “arrogant, lazy, an ideologue and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice, including procedural rules. There was a theme that the nominee lacks humility, has an ‘entitlement’ temperament, does not have an open mind, and does not always have a commitment to being candid and truthful.” Furthermore, they were concerned “about whether Mr. VanDyke would be fair to persons who are gay, lesbian or otherwise part of the LGBTQ community.”

VanDyke has a long history of extremist anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and actions. As a student at Harvard Law School, he wrote an op-ed claiming same-sex marriage would “hurt families and consequentially children and society.” At his hearing, VanDyke was provided with an opportunity to address his previous statements regarding same-sex marriage, specifically as to whether same-sex marriage damaged children. He pointedly refused to answer. VanDyke also refused to respond to Senators’ inquiries as to his legal approach to the intersection of LGBTQ rights and religious liberty. Emails from him reveal a Solicitor General who had little interest in engaging in the daily tasks of the office and instead an ideologue committed to advancing a political agenda.

 

 

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh may have escaped the kind of scrutiny that was warranted for a SCOTUS judge during his confirmation, but that doesn’t mean that he’s off the hook. Calls of his impeachment became deafening this past weekend after new allegations came out in the form of a lengthy New York Times investigation. If these allegations are true, then Kavanaugh committed perjury during his confirmation and can be impeached.

 

New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly discuss the reporting in their new book, “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation” about the allegations of sexual misconduct that came out during the confirmation hearing of now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Aired on 09/16/19.

 

Ret. Justice John Stevens: Kavanaugh Disqualified Himself From Supreme Court

John Paul Stevens, one of the only living retired Supreme Court justices, believes that Brett Kavanaugh’s emotional, angry testimony disqualified him from being able to serve effectively on the Court.

 

Kavanaugh behaved in a UNHINGED, BELLIGERENT, DEFIANT, COMBATIVE, ARGUMENTATIVE and DISRESPECTFUL manner at the Senate Hearing on September 27, 2018.

When asked questions about drinking, would then throw the questions back at the Senator, demanding they answer HIS questions. Kavanaugh has proved he doesn’t have the temperament to be Supreme Court Justice and is UNFIT for any position in government.

 

The above video shows examples of Brett Kavanaugh LYING yet Lindsey Graham & most Republicans are standing by and defending this Unfit Nominee for the Supreme Court.

 

At Tuesday’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy accused President Donald Trump’s nominee Brett Kavanaugh of providing misleading testimony about his time with the Bush administration.

 

Watch Kavanaugh Blatantly LIE To Prosecutor

The amount of things Brett Kavanaugh got away with during his hearing is stunning.

 

Old Kavanaugh speech exposes His Privilege and his blatant HYPOCRISY

 

SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Is A Corrupt Corporatist

Brett Kavanaugh has had all sorts of unflattering information being revealed, some of which seems to implicate Kavanaugh in illegal activity. But one thing that has been missing is talk of his anti-consumer rulings on everything from protecting clean air to workplace protections, and those are the issues where Kavanaugh could really cause havoc if he gets confirmed. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains why Kavanaugh must be stopped from getting a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

 

Kavanaugh Sided with SeaWorld After Trainer Was Drowned By Whale

After a SeaWorld trainer was drowned by a killer whale in 2010, Judge Kavanaugh said the company was immune from penalty. Kavanaugh has proven to be a Corrupt Corporatist who rules against consumers and 87% of the time in favor of Corporations.

 

Cover-Up of Brett Kavanaugh’s Records

The man who vetted Obama’s Supreme Court picks says there’s a massive data cover-up to make sure Brett Kavanaugh slithers his way into a nomination.

 

Kavanaugh’s past statement on Nixon

 

KAVANAUGH IS OPPOSED BY THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS AND IS THE MOST UNPOPULAR SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NOMINEE IN HISTORY

U.S. Women Reject Donald Trump SCOTUS Pick Brett Kavanaugh

Rachel Maddow outlines the historic depth of the unpopularity of Donald Trump’s pick for Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, and and unearths audio of Kavanaugh looking for legalistic excuses to keep a 17-year-old pregnant immigrant from exercising her constitutional right to an abortion.

 

Woman accuses Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct

A woman says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were both in high school, according to a source familiar with the allegation

Drink,teenage sex and a stripper: Brett Kavanaugh’s school years

Brett Kavanaugh went to elite all-boys Catholic school Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, MD – and is now accused of attack on girl, 15, when he was there Professor who claims Kavanaugh attacked her said that his best friend Mark Judge was also present and helped, jumping on top of her

EXCLUSIVE: ‘A school swimming in alcohol’, beach parties, sex and even a STRIPPER – inside Brett Kavanaugh’s elite education, by the friend accused of being part of ‘drunken sex attack’

• Brett Kavanaugh went to elite all-boys Catholic school Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, MD – and is now accused of attack on girl, 15, when he was there
• Professor who claims Kavanaugh attacked her said that his best friend Mark Judge was also present and helped, jumping on top of her too
• Christine Blasey Ford said it happened during drunken party when she was wearing bathing suit
• Now DailyMail.com has obtained both books written by Judge which detail what he says were drink-sodden high school years
• He writes about ‘popping’, the habit of holding parties when parents were away, which saw teenage sex and houses trashed
• Writes about ‘Bart O’Kavanaugh’ who had ‘puked’ in a car and also writes about a bachelor party for teacher for which students hired a stripper

 

Damning Clip of Brett Kavanaugh saying “What happened at Georgetown Prep STAYS at Georgetown Prep – and that’s a good thing”

 

Why Lisa Murkowski Opposes Brett Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh Should Be Impeached

Patrick Leahy, the senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the dean of the current US Senate, is not prone to hyperbole. So when he expresses concerns after the completion of US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing about ” untruthful testimony, under oath and on the record,” he should be taken seriously.

Brett Kavanaugh’s perjury does not just disqualify him from service on the US Supreme Court.. it disqualifies him from service as any kind of judge

 

Brett Kavanaugh Is a Lifelong Republican Operative and Will Rule Like One

WASHINGTON-So, at the end of a long and noisy and farcical day, Judge Brett Kavanaugh finally got to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee what a great guy he is. It was not impressive. Throughout my life, I have tried to serve the common good, in keeping with my Jesuit high school’s motto, “men for others.”

Brett Kavanaugh Is a Lifelong Republican Operative and Will Rule Like One

 

Two Ways Democrats Can Remove Kavanaugh – Without Impeaching Him

Two ways Democrats can remove Kavanaugh – without impeaching him

Before Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in, critics were calling for his impeachment. The political polarization over allegations that he had assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when they were teenagers doesn’t show much sign of abating. Impeachment is a polarizing process itself, though, one that even many Democrats appear uneasy about pursuing if they win control of Congress in next month’s elections.

Per the above article: “A Democratic Congress and a future Democratic president could remove Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court if they wanted without needing to impeach him. There are two other ways to kick a sitting justice off the court – neither of which requires a supermajority.

In the first, a new president would nominate and the Senate would confirm by majority vote a justice – in this case Kavanaugh – to a different post on an intermediate court of appeals (say the D.C. Circuit, where Kavanaugh formerly served). The justice would, in effect, be demoted.

It finds support in an 1803 Supreme Court case called Stuart v. Laird. The fading Federalist Party of John Adams had created 16 new federal judgeships in 1801 – in part to spare Supreme Court justices from having to “ride the circuit” and hear regional appellate cases. Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans triumphed at the polls and abolished the new positions in 1802.

The second alternative method of relieving a justice of his or her duties. In a 2006 article in the Yale Law Journal, two scholars (conservatives, as it happens), Saikrishna Prakash and Steven D. Smith, amassed historical evidence that the Framers understood the “good behavior” standard to be judicially, rather than just politically, enforceable.

They pointed out that judicial removal proceedings were used in English law in the 1780s, and were included in the New York, South Carolina and Massachusetts pre-1787 constitutions. Moreover, they noted, “good behavior” was included by the Continental Congress as a standard in the 1787 Northwest Ordinance for courts in the territories – before there were a separate House and Senate to conduct an impeachment.

As (roughly) proposed in the Yale article, Congress could pass a statute authorizing a specially constituted bench of federal judges – say, five randomly drawn judges – to determine whether a particular judge (here, Kavanaugh) had violated the “good behavior” standard. That special bench could hold a hearing and, if convinced by the evidence, make the requisite finding to trigger exit from the bench. This approach wouldn’t require a congressional supermajority. It would need a presidential signature.

Current federal law contains a trace of this mechanism. When a judge is convicted of a felony, whether in state or federal court, the law now states that he or she “shall not hear or decide cases” unless a council of judges decides otherwise. To be sure, the judge keeps a salary in the interim. But the judge is effectively sidelined – as completely as if he or she were impeached.

The creation of a new vehicle for judicial peer review seems to be the optimal option, as it would create a nonpartisan, procedurally robust device for disciplining judges.

Supreme Court justices right now have no real supervisors when it comes to ethics, and impeachment has come to seem excessively partisan. A standing body, available for all cases of misconduct – not just a ticket for one ride only – would resolve that problem, no matter who the appointing president.