Alan Teder's Reviews > Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court

Obstructionist Court Confirmations
Review of the Regnery Publishing hardcover edition (July 2019)

I read Justice on Trial as part of my reading survey of various books in relation to the 2020 American Election. As a Canadian I’ve generally ignored American politics and elections in past years, but the drama of the situation in 2020 has heightened my interest.

Although the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, hearings & confirmation from July 9, 2018 (nomination) to October 6, 2018 (confirmation) predates the 2020 election cycle, it is still provides a deep dive view into the partisan animosity between the political forces in the United States. It is also somewhat of a preview of the Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination (September 26, 2020 (nomination) to October 26, 2020 (confirmation) which proceeded more smoothly, but with similar protests.

Hemingway and Severino report the ups and downs of the confirmation process in a straightforward factual manner documenting the on the record speeches, statements, questions and answers. There is no question which side comes out looking the worse in this.

This quoted excerpt summarizes the situation the best:

Even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the most celebrated liberal on the Supreme Court, lamented that Kavanaugh's hearing was a "highly partisan show." " The vote on my confirmation was ninety-six to three, even though I had spent about ten years of my life litigating cases under the auspices of the ACLU," she told an audience at the George Washington University Law School on September 13. She reminded the audience that Antonin Scalia's confirmation was unanimous, adding, "That's the way it should be... I wish I could wave a magic wand and have it go back to the way it was."