Now Into Court

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Still, it was a close-run thing: Kavanaugh's nomination was nearly derailed by Christine Blasey Ford's allegations that the judge assaulted her when they were teenagers in the s, which sparked uproar and forced Republicans to delay the confirmation vote for a week to allow time for a supplemental FBI background check. Trump took a victory lap before an enthusiastic crowd at a rally in Topeka, Kansas, on what he hailed as a "historic night.

He dismissed the allegations against Kavanaugh by accusing Democrats of waging a "shameless campaign of political and personal destruction. How senators voted on Brett Kavanaugh. Democrats furiously accused the GOP of short-circuiting efforts to examine Ford's allegations and of rushing the nomination through while ignoring the changed political dynamics surrounding complaints of misconduct against powerful men ushered in by the MeToo movement.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the nomination "one of the saddest moments in the history of the Senate," and said, "this chapter will be a flashing red warning light of what to avoid. Republicans "conducted one of the least transparent, least fair, most biased processes in Senate history, slanting the table from the very beginning to produce their desired result," he added.

How Kavanaugh maneuvered to win his confirmation fight. McConnell, who stalled Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the court in his final year in office and for whom the new conservative majority represents a defining achievement, predicted that Democratic tactics during confirmation battle would electrify Republican voters in November. President Donald Trump's winning streak.

Kavanaugh's confirmation leaves the Senate traumatized with Republicans and Democrats as estranged as at any time in recent memory, reflecting the cavernous divides in the country itself during a presidency that has ignited rare political passions. It represents the culmination of a decades-long project by the conservative movement to construct a like-minded majority on the Supreme Court which has been a defining and unifying cause in successive congressional and presidential campaigns. The new profile of the court immediately makes Trump a consequential president, for all of the chaos and discord that rages around his White House, and means his legacy will include an achievement that eluded previous Republican presidents -- all of whom had more authentic conservative credentials.

The ferocious nature of the confirmation battle could also have an impact on the Court itself, as Kavanaugh's vehement and politicized defense of his own behavior raised questions about his temperament and whether he could genuinely be a honest broker and implementer of the law in the most sensitive cases.

Brett Kavanaugh sworn in as Supreme Court justice

Under the Constitution, justices of the Supreme Court serve for life or good behavior. No justice has ever been removed from the Court by impeachment.

Brett Kavanaugh: divisive fight fades into silence on justice's first day

Nominations to the Court, however, have in recent decades become highly political events. There is little basis for this view.

Thus the Warren Court, in the s, was sympathetic to national solutions for national problems. As the Roberts Court gets underway, the struggle between the more conservative and liberal justices on the Court seems to have become sharper. What is the place of an unelected judiciary in a democracy?

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There is an inherent tension between two basic principles in a constitutional liberal democracy—accountable government by a democratically elected majority, and enforcement of the Constitution even if it requires striking down laws favored by that majority. Judicial review is especially attractive when it reinforces democratic principles such as one person, one vote, free and fair elections, and freedom of speech and press.

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The rule of law—indeed, the very idea of a constitution—requires that the Constitution be enforced as the supreme law of the land. The Supreme Court may err in particular cases. He is the author of a number of books, articles, and monographs.

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We should expect to see all sorts of assaults on our basic rights and progressive values. Critics argue that the court now represents minority rule, a phrase more commonly applied to regimes such as apartheid South Africa. Trump, who has appointed the conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to the supreme court, lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3m ballots in and has a record high disapproval rating in surveys.

Then there is Congress. An analysis by the Washington Post found that Kavanaugh was confirmed with the support of senators representing Conservatives, however, disagree that the court faces a crisis of legitimacy. Curt Levey, president of the rightwing advocacy group the Committee for Justice, said: Even if it overturned Roe v Wade, it would mean more freedom for the states rather than an outright ban. Most people I know want some sort of compromise on abortion.

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