Fair Courts

No senator should be pushing for a vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to a lifetime seat on the highest court in the land. A vote tomorrow would be reckless and irresponsible. There is not enough information for any senator to provide informed advice and consent.

Americans deserve the whole record of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, not the whitewashed version the Senate Judiciary Committee’s majority has released. As this week’s extraordinary events in the Committee have made clear, this is the least transparent Supreme Court nomination process in our lifetime. Millions of pages of Judge Kavanaugh’s records have been withheld from the Senate and from the public. Many that are in the Judiciary Committee’s possession are still marked “committee confidential,” even though making them public will provide important information to the American people, as questioning by Senators Feinstein, Leahy, Klobuchar, Hirono, Booker, and Harris have made clear. Though the nominee may not recall many of his actions, the records have shown a very different story in some instances. Moreover, in response to probing questions by Sen. Blumenthal, Judge Kavanaugh refused to commit to recusing from cases involving President Trump’s potential criminal and civil liability that may be headed to the Supreme Court.

While it is disappointing that the U.S. Supreme Court chose to ignore such clear conflicts for the Wisconsin justices, the issues behind the case are far from dead. Recent revelations about the 2011-2012 recall elections have raised troubling new questions about Governor Walker and those who engaged in possible illegal activity. The new information which has come to light merits a full investigation by the Dane County District Attorney.

Madison Magazine shares their thoughts on Common Cause in Wisconsin.