If there’s any authority on what makes someone qualified to be on the Supreme Court of the United States, it would certainly be someone who sits — or has sat — on that hallowed bench themselves. That’s what makes retired Justice John Paul Stevens’ recent comments about Brett Kavanaugh possibly the most important opinion the public has available.
Stevens told a small crowd in Boca Raton, Florida that Kavanaugh’s behavior during the confirmation hearings should disqualify him from a seat on the bench:
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a lifelong Republican, told a small crowd in Boca Raton that Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s performance at confirmation hearings should disqualify him. “The Senators should pay attention to this.” pic.twitter.com/LdsJTuPGIx
— Lulu Ramadan (@luluramadan) October 4, 2018
It’s notable that Justice Stevens has been a Republican his entire life. However, the current Republican Party is certainly not the party that Stevens was ever a part of.
Many on social media mocked Kavanaugh’s appearance at the Senate Judiciary hearing during which both he and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified, asking how a man who shouts or cries at a “job interview” could possibly hope to get the job.
But it was perhaps Kavanaugh’s outburst about partisan bias and an act of “revenge” for the Clintons that rattled Stevens. It’s unclear whether Kavanaugh was referencing “sour grapes” over the election or the fact that he was part of special investigator Ken Starr’s team in 1998 during former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial.
Either way, Kavanaugh’s bizarre and at times jarring tirade against the Senators who were there attempting to gauge his credibility was easily the most nakedly partisan display exhibited by a candidate for an office that is supposed to be non-partisan in the history of confirmations.
Stevens said he once thought Kavanaugh “had the qualifications” to be a Supreme Court justice and even lauded Kavanaugh in one of his books for a ruling on political contributions. “His performance in the hearings changed my mind.” https://t.co/6XWBJjWWxS
— Lulu Ramadan (@luluramadan) October 4, 2018
It was the retirement of Stevens that occasioned the appointment of Elena Kagan, one of the few remaining “liberal” justices left on the court.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons
