Firmly aligned with the religious right
Donald J. Trump has picked Brett Kavanaugh, a 53 years old jurist to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Mr. Kavanaugh has served on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals since 2006.
In picking this judge, Trump is moving the Supreme Court to the United States very far to the right – something that will likely have horrible consequences for LGBTQ persons living in the United States.
As reported by LAMBDA Legal:
“The Family Research Council (FRC), which has sought to undermine anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people and our families since its inception, vigorously advocated on behalf of Mr. Kavanaugh’s nomination.
FRC sent an email alert in 2005 urging supporters of the religious right to contact Congress and demand that Mr. Kavanaugh be confirmed.
FRC also criticized then-Senator Bill Frist (R-T.N.) for not advancing the nomination. After Judge Kavanaugh was finally confirmed, FRC praised the vote and urged action on other nominees.
FRC clearly believed that Judge Kavanaugh would advance their interests, which, as mentioned previously, are focused largely on working to undermine the rights of LGBTQ people.”
CBS News Reports: [Kavanaugh] “Has a track record of siding with religious organizations over governments and other groups that challenge them, a particularly attractive trait to conservatives.”
As shared by LAMBDA on their website:
“Judge Kavanaugh has also been a reliable vote for those who wish to block access to abortion. He was part of a three-judge panel that vacated a Temporary Restraining Order issued by a D.C. federal district court allowing an immigrant teenage girl to get an abortion.
This order delayed the abortion by requiring the girl to be placed in a sponsor’s custody. When the D.C. Circuit then reversed that decision on appeal, Judge Kavanaugh dissented, claiming that the government was creating a “new right” for immigrants in custody “to obtain immediate abortion on demand” for “unlawful immigrant minors.”
But there is more …
Back in the 1990’s, he served as Independent Counsel for Kenneth Starr, and was the lead author of the infamous Starr report that was sent to Congress addressing the Whitewater/Monica Lewinsky/Vince Foster investigation.
Slate considers Kavanaugh to be a “clone” of now deceased Justice Scalia – a judge we know from his decisions on the bench to be very anti-LGBTQ.
He has gone on record saying he thought the ban on semi-automatic rifles was unconstitutional because the weapons are commonly used in this country (LA Times).
As the National Review shared in an article on their website, Kavanaugh is a “Warrior for Religious Liberty”. And that is the problem – he is too aligned with religious forces – groups that want nothing more than to rollback rights of vulnerable communities.
Here at the blog, it is our belief that Kavanaugh’s record represents a very real threat to LGBTQ people, women’s rights and general civil rights. His views appear to be outside of the mainstream.
It is our belief he should not be confirmed. We had the same opinion of Neil Gorsuch.
We urge you to contact your senator and strongly let your representative know he is an unacceptable choice for the United States Supreme Court.
