American Bar Association: a reasonable doubt

American Bar Association calls for FBI investigation into Kavanaugh allegations, delay in confirmation votes

 

Meagan Flynn, Seung Min Kim

5 hrs ago
The American Bar Association called on the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday evening to halt the confirmation vote for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, saying it should not move forward until an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against him can be completed.

 

“The basic principles that underscore the Senate’s constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI,” ABA President Robert Carlson wrote in a letter to Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking committee Democrat Dianne Feinstein (Calif).

The letter, which is unlikely to sway Republicans, said that an appointment to the Supreme court “is simply too important to rush to a vote.” “Deciding to proceed without conducting an additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate’s reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court,” Carlson wrote in the letter, obtained by The Washington Post.

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The ABA, with 400,000 members, is the legal profession’s largest organization. Kavanaugh and his supporters have bragged about its favorable rating of the nominee, with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) describing the imprimatur as the “gold standard.”
 

During Thursday’s tumultuous hearing, in which Christine Blasey Ford testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982, Kavanaugh referenced his good standing with the ABA multiple times as he angrily denied Ford’s allegations.

“For 12 years, everyone who has appeared before me on the D.C. Circuit has praised my judicial temperament. That’s why I have well unanimous, well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association,” Kavanaugh testified.

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Beyond a reasonable doubt - common practice in law - equal justice under law - The supreme court needs to set an example for all lawyers.