Bailey Thompson | News Editor
The American people were subjected to months of controversy when President Donald Trump, on July 9, chose Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee for Supreme Court Justice.
Kavanaugh has been involved in the political realm for a number of years. According to Business Insider, his presence at key events in political history effectively earned him the nickname “the Forrest Gump of Republican Politics.”
In his younger years, Kavanaugh held positions as law clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy and as associate counsel on the team who investigated former President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. After that, he worked as assistant, staff secretary and senior associate counsel to former President George W. Bush.
Since 2006, Kavanaugh has served on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
Although his political background was the motivating factor for his nomination, alleged elements of Kavanaugh’s past have shocked and horrified much of the American public.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick have each come forward with sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh since his nomination.
On Sept. 27, Ford testified at a hearing, stating she was “100 percent” certain that Kavanaugh was the man who had attacked her 36 years prior.
Ford’s testimony inspired an FBI investigation, postponing the senate’s confirmation vote until further knowledge had been obtained.
The hearing also incited an outcry of sentiments online — with conflicting hashtags such as #StopKavanaugh, #ConfirmKavanaugh and #Ibelievesurvivors highlighted the passion of those on both sides of the issue.
Concluding the investigation, the FBI reported they did not find any evidence to corroborate the allegations against Kavanaugh. So, on Oct. 6, the Senate voted 50-48 to confirm him to the Supreme Court, establishing what is anticipated to be a conservative majority for many years to come.
The outcome of this vote will prove significant to Western students for a couple of different reasons. First, the addition of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court suggests that the interpretation of highly-contested laws will have a more conservative influence in the future. On top of that, the way that these hearings addressed individuals who brought forward sexual assault allegations may spur a national conversation about the way that the justice system treats survivors.
Ultimately, the controversy of the decision stemmed from one foundational question: who has the onus of proof in such a situation? Should Kavanaugh have needed to prove his innocence, or was it up to Ford to verify his guilt?
Although legal proceedings have traditionally operated under the presumption of innocence, defined by Oxford English Dictionary as “the fundamental principle and legal requirement that a defendant must be presumed innocent, and treated as such, until proven guilty,” it can be difficult to provide convicting evidence for many sexual assault cases, particularly when time has elapsed since the event.
“There’s inappropriate questions to ask someone about gender/race violence and one of them is ‘why did you wait so long?’” said Director of Abby’s House Aislinn Addington. “It’s so much more complicated than that.”
Speaking on the ways that Kavanaugh’s confirmation will affect Western students, she said that, “there’s a lot of weight surrounding this appointment, and so then that’s on the shoulders of survivors in a way that it shouldn’t be.”
“Start with supporting each other,” Addington said when asked how students can help survivors in their community. “Come to Abby’s House. We have peer advocates who are trained to help and listen… And that’s a great place to start.”
For those who would like to connect with Abby’s House for support, they can be reached at (503) 838-8219 or visit them in lower level of the WUC. Students can also reach the Student Health and Counseling Center at (503) 838-8313 or Sable House in Dallas at (503) 623-6703.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
