13. Molly Ball, “Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Confirmation is Now the Ultimate Test of Political Power in 2018,” Time, September 20, 2018, http://time.com/5401624/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation/.
14. Judson Berger, “Susan Collins reveals vulgar, threatening voicemails left during Kavanaugh confirmation,” Fox News, December 19, 2018, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/susan-collins-reveals-profane-threatening-voicemails-left-during-kavanaugh-confirmation.
15. Ian Mason, “Leftists Confront Sex Assault Survivor Who Supports Kavanaugh,” Breitbart, October 5, 2018, https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2018/10/05/leftists-confront-sex-assault-survivor-who-supports-kavanaugh/.
16. Eli Rosenberg, “Activists Raised $1 Million to Defeat Susan Collins if She Votes for Kavanaugh. She Says It’s Bribery,” Washington Post, September 12, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/12/activists-raised-million-defeat-susan-collins-if-she-votes-kavanaugh-she-says-its-bribery/. While the crowd-funders maintained that their donation would not officially qualify as a bribe, Collins disagreed, supported by a prominent election lawyer. David A. Patten, “Group Threatens Sen. Collins with $1.3 Million Donation Over Kavanaugh Vote,” Newsmax, September 10, 2018, https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/susan-collins-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court/2018/09/10/id/881082/.
17. James Pindell, “With Brett Kavanaugh vote, Susan Collins is in middle of a firestorm,” Boston Globe, September 18, 2018, https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/09/18/angry-calls-threats-thousands-hangers-susan-collins-middle-political-firestorm/EO1XqIK0cUCyYV8jbxhf5J/story.html.
18. Collins’s floor speech will be quoted throughout this section. Susan Collins, “Senate Floor Speech in Support of Brett Kavanaugh,” C-SPAN via American Rhetoric website, October 5, 2018, https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/susancollinssenatefloorbrettkavanaugh.htm.
19. “Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Senate speech on why she opposed Kavanaugh,” Anchorage Daily News, October 8, 2018, https://www.adn.com/politics/2018/10/05/sen-lisa-murkowskis-full-senate-speech-on-why-shes-not-supporting-kavanaugh/.
20. Quin Hillyer, “Lisa Murkowski Should ‘Pair No’ with Steve Daines’s ‘Paired Yes,’ ” National Review, October 5, 2018, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/lisa-murkowski-steve-dainess-brett-kavanaugh-vote/.
21. “Remarks by President Trump at Swearing-in Ceremony of the Honorable Brett M. Kavanaugh as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,” White House website, October 8, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-swearing-ceremony-honorable-brett-m-kavanaugh-associate-justice-supreme-court-united-states/.
Chapter Twelve: Legitimacy
1. Jonathan Martin, “Kavanaugh Was Supposed to Be a Midterm Boon for G.O.P. Not Anymore,” New York Times, September 23, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/23/us/politics/kavanaugh-senate-republicans-elections.html.
2. Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei, “Dems plot massive campaign if Kavanaugh falls,” Axios, September 20, 2018, https://www.axios.com/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-democrats-2018-midterm-elections-3ce55ebf-dc62-46b9-8ffa-bb1a7fe7cb18.html.
3. Domenico Montanaro, “Poll: Amid Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle, Democratic Enthusiasm Edge Evaporates,” NPR, October 3, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/10/03/654015874/poll-amid-kavanaugh-confirmation-battle-democratic-enthusiasm-edge-evaporates.
4. Katie Glueck and Adam Wollner, “Republican enthusiasm surges amid Supreme Court battle,” McClatchy DC Bureau, October 4, 2018, https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/midterms/article219488090.html.
5. Eliza Collins, “McConnell predicts Republican ‘surge’ from Kavanaugh confirmation heading into midterms,” USA Today, October 6, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/10/06/brett-kavanaugh-mcconnell-confirmation-gop-surge/1549762002/.
6. Tal Axelrod, “Trump says midterms about ‘Kavanaugh, the caravan, law and order and common sense,’ ” The Hill, October 18, 2018, https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/412172-trump-midterms-a-referendum-on-kavanaugh-the-caravan-law-and-order.
7. Will Schmitt, “President Trump joins Josh Hawley to urge Missouri Republicans to get out and vote,” Springfield News-Leader, September 21, 2018, https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/21/trump-rally-springfield-missouri-hawley-defends-kavanaugh/1346171002/.
8. On October 6 Morrisey tweeted, “Thanks to @realDonaldTrump & Republicans in the Senate who confirmed Kavanaugh. Remember, Manchin refused to commit to Kavanaugh until AFTER the Senate had the votes. Manchin piled on—he had no courage and empowered the Schumer circus. #wvsen #wvpol.” AG Patrick Morrisey (@MorriseyWV), Twitter, October 6, 2018, 1:36 p.m., https://twitter.com/MorriseyWV/status/1048673350220963841. It took PolitiFact over a month to fact-check this claim, releasing its assessment of “True” a week after the election, too late to be helpful to West Virginia voters. Kristen Mohammadi, “How late did Joe Manchin decide on Kavanaugh vote?” PolitiFact, November 15, 2018, https://www.politifact.com/west-virginia/statements/2018/nov/15/patrick-morrisey/how-late-did-joe-manchin-decide-kavanaugh-vote/.
9. “Tennessee Senate–Blackburn vs. Bredesen,” RealClearPolitics, https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/tn/tennessee_senate_blackburn_vs_bredesen-6308.html#polls.
10. Joel Ebert, “Brett Kavanaugh vote: Phil Bredesen says he supports Supreme Court nominee,” Tennessean, October 5, 2018, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/tn-elections/2018/10/05/key-kavanaugh-vote-u-s-senate-begins-bredesen-says-he-supports-nominee/1524565002/.
11. Manchin was an exception, as he voted in favor of Kavanaugh. But 40 percent of West Virginia voters called the Kavanaugh vote a key issue, and those broke for Manchin, although Morrissey would also have voted to confirm Kavanaugh. Gary Langer and Benjamin Siu, “Election 2018 exit poll analysis: Voter turnout soars, Democrats take back the House, ABC News projects,” ABC News, November 7, 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/election-2018-exit-poll-analysis-56-percent-country/story?id=59006586.
12. Mollie Hemmingway, “Incoming Democrat Chairman: Dems Will Go ‘All-In’ On Russia, Impeach Kavanaugh For ‘Perjury,’ ” The Federalist, November 7, 2018, https://thefederalist.com/2018/11/07/incoming-democrat-chairman-dems-will-go-all-in-on-russia-impeach-kavanaugh-for-perjury/.
13. Eli Yokley, “America’s Most and Least Popular Senators,” Morning Consult, January 10, 2019, https://morningconsult.com/2019/01/10/americas-most-and-least-popular-senators-q4-2018/.
14. Jennifer Bendery, “Group to Run Ads Urging University to Cancel Brett Kavanaugh’s Teaching Gig,” HuffPost, April 12, 2019, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/george-mason-university-brett-kavanaugh_n_5cae552ee4b0308735d48efd.
15. Cady Lang, “Here’s Why This Witch Is Preparing for Midterm Election by Hosting a Hex on Brett Kavanaugh,” Time, November 2, 2018, http://time.com/5442528/brett-kavanaugh-hex/.
16. Anne E. Marimow and Robert Barnes, “Judiciary dismisses ‘serious’ misconduct complaints against Brett M. Kavanaugh,” Washington Post, December 18, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/judiciary-dismisses-serious-misconduct-complaints-against-brett-m-kavanaugh/2018/12/18/f55416b0-0301-11e9-b6a9-0aa5c2fcc9e4_story.html.
17. Marcia Coyle, “New Dismissal of Kavanaugh Ethics Claims Divides 10th Circuit Panel,” March 15, 2019, https://www.law.com/2019/03/15/new-dismissal-of-kavanaugh-ethics-claims-divides-10th-circuit-panel/.
18. Legal scholars differ on whether impeachment is available for pre-confirmation actions. See, e.g., Elizabeth B. Bazan, “Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedures, and Practice,” Congressional Research Service, December 9, 2010, https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/98-186.pdf. David Rivkin and Lee Casey argue that it is not available in Kavanaugh’s case. David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, “Democrats Abandon the Constitution,” Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-abandon-the-constitution-1539645364.
19. Elie Mystal, “The Time Has
Come for Democrats to Impeach Brett Kavanaugh,” The Nation, March 20, 2019, https://www.thenation.com/article/impeach-brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court/.
20. Mark A. Perry, “The Brett Kavanaugh I know,” Spokesman Review, October 6, 2018, http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/oct/06/mark-a-perry-the-brett-kavanaugh-i-know/.
21. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, directed by John Ford (1962; Thousand Oaks, CA, Paramount Studios).
22. Akhil Reed Amar, “A Liberal’s Case for Brett Kavanaugh,” New York Times, July 9, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/opinion/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-trump.html; “Testimony of Akhil Reed Amar,” United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, September 7, 2018, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/download/amar-testimony.
23. Jordan Weissmann, “The Liberal Case for Kavanaugh Is Complete Crap,” Slate, July 10, 2018, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/the-liberal-case-for-brett-kavanaugh-is-complete-garbage.html; Jay Willis, “The ‘Liberal Case’ for Brett Kavanaugh is a Bunch of Horseshit,” GQ, July 10, 2018, https://www.gq.com/story/liberal-case-for-brett-kavanaugh-lol; Eleanor Marie Lawrence Brown, “Elite law professors are brushing politics aside to support fellow elite Brett Kavanaugh. That’s inexcusable in the Trump era,” Vox, July 25, 2018, https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2018/7/25/17609844/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-yale-law-school-elites-supreme-court-amar.
24. Akhil Amar, “AMAR: Second thoughts on Kavanaugh,” Yale News, September 24, 2018, https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/09/24/amar-second-thoughts-on-kavanaugh/; Akhil Amar, “AMAR: Third Thoughts on Kavanaugh,” Yale News, October 10, 2018, https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/10/10/amar-third-thoughts-on-kavanaugh/.
25. Matt Byrne, “Maine woman charged with mailing threat, powder to Sen. Collins,” Press Herald, April 8, 2018, https://www.pressherald.com/2019/04/08/burlington-woman-charged-with-mailing-threat-powder-to-susan-collins/.
26. Kate Conger and Sheera Frenkel, “At Facebook, Workers Cite Intolerance By Liberals,” New York Times, August 28, 2018, B1.
27. Mike Isaac, “Rifts Break Open at Facebook Over Kavanaugh Hearing,” New York Times, October 4, 2018, A19.
28. Ibid.
29. Donie O’Sullivan, ‘Emotional’ Facebook staff meeting addresses exec who supported Kavanaugh,” CNN Business, October 5, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/05/tech/facebook-joel-kaplan-backlash/index.html.
30. Tasha Cole, Facebook, September 25, 2018, https://www.facebook.com/TashaCole17/posts/1985438491479549.
31. At the time of publication she had only lost two cases; one was still pending.
32. Lisa Blatt, “I’m a Liberal Feminist Lawyer. Here’s Why Democrats Should Support Judge Kavanaugh,” Politico, August 2, 2018, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/02/im-a-liberal-feminist-heres-why-i-support-judge-kavanaugh-219081.
33. Amanda Terkel, “ ‘Liberal Feminist Lawyer’ Stands to Gain From Her Public Advocacy For Brett Kavanaugh,” HuffPost, August 31, 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lisa-blatt-brett-kavanvaugh_us_5b885424e4b0511db3d64064.
34. Mark Joseph Stern, “Why Is Lisa Blatt Endorsing Brett Kavanaugh?” Slate, September 4, 2018, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/why-is-lisa-blatt-endorsing-brett-kavanaugh.html.
35. “Confirmation Hearing On The Nomination of Hon. Neil M. Gorsuch To Be An Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States,” Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate, (U.S GPO: Washington D.C., 2018), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg28638/pdf/CHRG-115shrg28638.pdf, 153.
36. Ledbetter v Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007).
37. Doe v Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 222 (1973) (White, J., dissenting).
38. Alexander Hamilton, “Federalist 78–The Judiciary Department,” in The Federalist (University Park, IL: Liberty Fund, 2010).
39. PoliticallyBlazed, “Gun Control – Supreme Court Justice Scalia,” Fox News Sunday via YouTube, January 6, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOmM6qBnbrI.
40. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “Speaking in a Judicial Voice,” New York University Law Review 67, no. 6 (1992): 1206, 1208.
41. See Jamie L. Carson, “A Switch in Time Saves Nine: Institutions, Strategic Actors, and FDR’s Court Packing Plan,” Public Choice 113: 301–324 (2002). David Stras makes a compelling argument that increasing judicial pensions generally played a more important role in encouraging retirements than had been previously recognized. David R. Stras and Ryan W. Scott, “Retaining Life Tenure: The Case for a ‘Golden Parachute,’ ” Washington University Law Quarterly, 83 (2005): 1397.
42. Internal Court voting records reveal that Roberts’s vote in West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937), typically cited as the decisive shift in his apprach, actually was cast months before Roosevelt’s plan was announced, although it was published much later. Randy E. Barnett and Josh Blackman, An Introduction to Constitutional Law: 100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know, (2019), 167–69.
43. For a detailed description of Chief Justice Roberts’s change in the case, see chapter nine of Joan Biskupic’s book, The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts, (New York: Basic Books, 2019).
44. See, e.g., Adam Cohen, “The ‘Enigma’ Who Is the Chief Justice of the United States,” New York Times, March 24, 2019, BR1 (describing Roberts as having, “with few exceptions, been the sort of hard-line ideological chief justice his conservative backers hoped he would be,” characterizing him as “particularly meanspirited in gay rights cases,” and lamenting his “deep-seated bias against the weak”).
45. She had been treated for colon cancer in 1999 and pancreatic cancer in 2009.
Index
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
A
Abbott, Greg, 55
ABC News, 145, 201, 264, 287
Acosta, Jim, 146
Affordable Care Act, 45, 302
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, 255
Alito, Samuel, 45, 72, 80, 240, 272, 279, 281, 305
Alksne, Cynthia, 208, 253
Allen, Mike, 284
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 110, 116, 240
American Constitution Society (ACS), 109
American Psychological Foundation, 211
Americans for Prosperity, 74, 176–77
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 70
Arabella Advisors, 111, 207, 239
Archila, Ana Maria, 239
Ashcroft, John, 79
Associated Press, 195, 247
Avenatti, Michael, 161–62, 172–73, 181, 184–88, 190, 218, 220, 229, 246, 253–54
Axios, 284
B
Bannon, Steve, 56, 58, 60
Barnes, Fred, 49
Barrett, Amy Coney, 7–8, 11, 20–22, 62, 69, 71, 99, 175
Barry, Maryanne Trump, 32
Bash, Zina, 76, 104–5
Bates, Stephen, 95
Bauer, Gary, 42
Bazelon, Emily, 254–55
Bazelon, Lara, 194
Bennett, Geoff, 76
Bennett, William, 191
Berchem, Kerry, 255–58
Berman, Paul Schiff, 72
Biden, Joe, 28, 80, 115, 128, 164, 180–81, 195, 235, 284
Blackburn, Marsha, 286
Blackmun, Harry, 36
Blackwell, Keith, 56
Blake, Aaron, 67
Blasey, Ralph, 214
Blitzer, Wolf, 184
Bloomberg News, 32, 195
Blumenthal, Richard, 70, 82–83, 93, 101, 113, 122–23, 235, 240, 256
Booker, Cory, 70, 92, 101, 112–13, 115, 186, 224, 235, 240, 263
Borger, Gloria, 204
Bork, Robert, 28, 38–42, 44, 53, 64, 7
3–74, 115, 128, 150, 173, 235, 240, 305
Bork, Robert, Jr., 152, 168
Bounds, Ryan, 90
Brady, Erik, 270
Brandeis, Louis, 102, 168
Bream, Shannon, 71
Bredesen, Phil, 145, 286
Breitbart News, 56
Brennan William, 33–34, 38, 43, 281
Bresnahan, John, 127
Brethren, The, 10
Breyer, Stephen, 72, 279, 303
Brown, Emma, 129–31, 135, 154–55, 199, 266
Brown, Janice Rogers, 52, 80
Brown, Katie, 88
Brown v. Board of Education, 34
Bunch, Jonathan, 46–47, 58
Burck, Bill, 97, 113, 115
Burger, Warren E., 36–37
Burnham, James, 51
Bush, George H. W., 28, 43, 128
Bush, George W., 9, 18–19, 23, 27, 29, 44, 48–49, 51, 63, 78–80, 91, 97, 104, 120, 157, 170, 179, 205, 217–18, 236, 238, 244
Bush, Jeb, 9, 18, 31–32, 48, 49
Bush, Laura, 19
Bush v. Gore, 109
BuzzFeed, 122, 125
C
Caldwell, Leigh Ann, 76, 255
Canady, Charles, 56
Capito, Shelley Moore, 274
Carlson, Robert, 239–40
Carlson, Tucker, 139
Carson, Ben, 31
Casey, Bob, 68
CBS News, 47, 140, 151, 169
Center for American Progress (CAP), 5, 69, 76, 111
Center for Popular Democracy, 91, 104, 111, 239
Chait, Jonathan, 184, 186
Chao, Elaine, 27
Chua, Amy, 147
Cillizza, Chris, 145
Citizens United decision, 48, 58, 92
Clement, Paul, 51, 55, 61–62
Cleveland, Grover, 28
Clinton, Bill, 15, 20, 49, 69, 72, 76, 94–95, 111, 154, 159, 201, 225, 230, 284
Clinton, Chelsea, 77
Clinton, Hillary, 11, 15, 46, 56–58, 69, 80, 110, 225, 230–31, 240, 284, 293
Clune, John, 187
CNN, 5, 139–40, 145–46, 151, 166, 172, 184, 187, 204, 230, 239–40, 272, 286
Coffin v. United States, 163
Colbert, Stephen, 67
Cole, Tasha, 292
Collins, Susan, 17, 29, 60, 70, 86, 88–89, 96, 99, 126, 136, 150, 152, 184, 210, 216, 239, 243, 245, 247, 263, 271–77, 287, 290, 300, 304
Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court Page 42