The confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court has been set for Sept. 4 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Washington Post reported.
At the same time, the Boston Herald reported Friday that Democrats have been digging for dirt on the 53-year-old federal judge, who was nominated to fill the high court vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, many believe it will solidify a conservative tilt to the nation’s highest court. That has liberals frantic to derail his confirmation. Anti-gunners fear it will mean the Supreme Court could be willing to hear more Second Amendment cases and come down with rulings to expand gun rights, while at the same time finding that some gun laws do not stand up to constitutional scrutiny.
Kavanaugh is the second person nominated to the high court by President Donald Trump, who had promised to bring more balance to the federal courts while he was campaigning.
Two organizations that have lately been outspoken in their support of Kavanaugh’s nomination are the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the Second Amendment Foundation. Shifting the courts back toward some semblance of balance and this could be Trump’s most lasting legacy.
“One look at Judge Kavanaugh’s qualifications should be enough to convince anyone, especially those sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee, to confirm his nomination,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.
“We think Second Amendment advocates and scholars in particular should appreciate what appears to be Judge Kavanaugh’s keen understanding of that enumerated right,” he added on behalf of SAF. “We are confident that he wouldn’t be inventing new interpretations of any tenet of the Bill of Rights, and that he will look with fairness and objectivity at every case that comes before the court.”
Gun prohibition lobbying groups have been organizing opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation, but it appears likely he will be confirmed despite partisan Democrat opposition. Some Democrats running for re-election in states Trump won in 2016 may vote in favor of confirmation or risk conservative voter wrath at the polls in November.
“The fact that Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination is being strongly opposed, if not downright vilified, by the gun prohibition lobby clearly signals to us that he is the right man for the job.”—Alan Gottlieb, CCRKBA
A weekend report in New York magazine identified Kavanaugh as a “stealth radical,” although the magazine headline seemed to lament the nominee is “encountering surprisingly little resistance.” But that may belie the reception he gets from Senate Judiciary Democrats when the hearing opens in about three weeks.
