Progressives are bringing attacks on the federal courts to a new low. They began by launching a campaign of character assassination against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. …
Progressives are bringing attacks on the federal courts to a new low. They began by launching a campaign of character assassination against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. While Democrats had mounted opposition to Samuel Alito and John Roberts for their past writings and official actions, they had not raised claims of sexual harassment since their failed effort to stop the nomination of Clarence Thomas (disclosure — I served as a law clerk for Justice Thomas). Democrats are using the allegations to discredit Kavanaugh, whom they suspect will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, or to threaten him into moving toward the middle.
They crossed another line by continuing the attacks on Kavanaugh after his confirmation to the Supreme Court and threatening impeachment. Our political system had discarded the idea of using impeachment to remove judges on ideological grounds ever since President Jefferson’s effort to remove Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase failed in 1804.
Their attacks on the judiciary, however, have not stopped with efforts to influence Justice Kavanaugh. Democratic political leaders and progressive intellectuals are demanding a fundamental change to the Supreme Court. If Democrats cannot stop Trump from appointing conservative judges, then they can promise to create more judgeships when they return to power. Former Texas congressman and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, for example, proposed expanding the size of the Supreme Court from 9 to 15 justices and imposing a limit of 18 years on their terms. Agreeing with the idea, Mayor Pete Buttigieg declared that increasing the number of justices to 15 would “prevent the Supreme Court from continuing on this trajectory to become basically ruined by being a nakedly political institution.” Senator Kamala Harris warned that “we are on the verge of a crisis of confidence in the Supreme Court” and that “everything is on the table” to “take this challenge head on.” Senator Elizabeth Warren threatened, “If Republicans are going to try to block us on key legislation or judges that we’re trying to move forward, then you better believe all the options are on the table.
