"WASHINGTON — Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh has calendars from the summer of 1982 that he plans to hand over to the Senate Judiciary Committee that do not show a party consistent with the description of his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, according to someone working for his confirmation.
The calendars do not disprove Dr. Blasey’s allegations, Judge Kavanaugh’s team acknowledged. He could have attended a party that he did not list. But his team will argue to the senators that the calendars provide no corroboration for her account of a small gathering at a house where he allegedly pinned her to a bed and tried to remove her clothing.
Dr. Blasey, 51, a university professor in California who is also known by her married name, Ford, told The Washington Post that she and Judge Kavanaugh were at a house in Montgomery County in the Maryland suburbs with just a handful of other teenagers at the time. She said that a “stumbling drunk” Judge Kavanaugh corralled her into a bedroom, groped her on a bed, tried to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she was wearing over it, and covered his mouth when she tried to scream. He has categorically denied the allegation.
Nothing from the calendars indicates whether he might have met Dr. Blasey. Judge Kavanaugh has told friends and advisers that he does not remember her. But senators are likely to question him on his drinking and partying during that era.
His friend, Mr. Judge, wrote a memoir called 'Wasted: Tales of a Gen-X Drunk,' describing a culture of blackout drinking at that time. He mentions a 'Bart O’Kavanaugh' who threw up in a car and 'passed out on his way back from a party'" (Baker).
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/23/us/politics/kavanaugh-senate-calendar.html
1. How does the memoir ("Waster: Tales of a Gen-X Drunk") affect your position on Kavanaugh? Does this alter your perception of him?
2. Kavanaugh's hearing is being held on Thursday (9/27/18). Aside from the allegations, should Kavanaugh step down from the nomination because of his past behavior (the heavy drinking, partying, etc.)?
3. Dr. Ford took a polygraph test - her accusations were truthful. Should Kavanaugh be required to do the same?
Joshua Ishimoto
ReplyDelete1. Mr. Judge's memoir seems to directly implicates Mr. Kavanaugh in reckless actions which would be consistent with Mrs. Ford's account of him during his alleged sexual assault. Therefore it obviously does alter my perception of him. I admit the fact that he was in high school and in a culture of partying and under-age drinking, but there is no excuse to such behavior. As a judge surely Mr. Kavanaugh will recognize that he, like the defendants in a case, are accountable to their actions (except for cases of mental illness).
2. Ultimately, his testimony before the Senate on these and other allegations is what is going to determine whether he will become a member of the Supreme Court. Under-age drinking alone is more of a reckless action that negatively affects the individual. With due diligence people are certain to redefine themselves and end such bad behavior. The same can be said of sexual assault except for the crucial fact that assault negatively hurts other. That makes on many orders higher an offense than extreme partying and drinking.
3. If the Senate cannot determine the honesty of Mr. Kavanaugh without a polygraph test then the judge should be required to do so. This may not be well used or needed in smaller cases but this is the very serious issue of voting somebody to the highest court in the nation, a term that expands a lifetime. The full truth must be gotten at any cost for the seriousness of this matter dictates so.
Clara Kennedy
ReplyDelete1. Mr. Judge's memoir makes me trust Mr. Kavanaugh's testimony less than before. If the memoir does accurately portray Mr. Kavanaugh's actions as a teenager, then it leads me to conclude that he is more likely to be guilty of sexual harassment as he has demonstrated a tendency for recklessness. Although this behavior may not be true in the present, it makes the allegations of sexual harassment in the more believable. This information definitely alters my perception of Mr. Kavanaugh as it provides more weight to the sexual harassment claims.
2. I believe that the heavy drinking and partying alone should not have Mr. Kavanaugh step down. However, if it can be proven that these behaviors occurred illegally or resulted in sexual harassment, he should then step down at that moment. Excessive drinking itself is not a major legal issue, so long as the behavior is one of the past, not the present. But, if he is implicated in harming another person, breaking the law, or continuing this reckless behavior in the present, which would make him unfit for the position, he should step down from the nomination.
3. Yes, I believe that Mr. Kavanaugh should be required to take a polygraph test. There should not be separate standards for identifying true claims from two people with competing narratives. Additionally, since Dr. Ford has accurate accusations, Mr. Kavanaugh should be required to take a polygraph test since the accusations contradicting his own statements have been proven to be truthful. Should Mr. Kavanaugh not take a polygraph test, I do not believe we can trust his testimony when directly contradicted by testimony that has passed a polygraph test.
Robert Chin
ReplyDelete1. Mr. Judge's memoir makes me less willing to believe what Judge Kavanaugh has to say. Although it does not explicitly show that Kavanaugh committed sexual assault, it shows that Kavanaugh was somewhat of a wild young man. The memoir humanizes Kavanaugh to the point where nothing seems to be improbable.
2. I do not believe that Kavanaugh should step down just because of the partying and drinking. He is no position to lose anything from these statements that are very public and true. All the attention is being focused on the sexual assault allegations. If he was truly innocent, these past actions will likely not affect appointment to the supreme court, meaning there is nothing to gain from stepping down. In addition, if he does step down it shows that Kavanaugh is conceding, which will cause the media to interpret this as an indirect statement of Kavanaugh pleading guilty.
3. I do believe that Kavanaugh should be required to take a polygraph test. If he truly has nothing to hide and his facts and are correct then there is nothing to lose by taking the test. By not taking the test, he is allowing the media to possibly believe that he is trying to hide something, thus possibly admitting to doing something unfit for a supreme court justice.
Julia Maxwell
ReplyDelete1. Mr. Judge's memoir makes me feel that Brent Kavanaugh is not a good person. This leads me to believe that he is not to be trusted with his testimony. In the past Kavanaugh did not behave well and that would lead most people to think that he did commit the sexual assault.
2. I do not think the accounts of Kavanaugh's partying and heavy drinking should make him step down from the nomination because it is common for young people to participate in those activities, but if he did commit the sexual assault, I think that he should realize he is not fit for the position and step down. If he is actually innocent of these sexual assault allegations then he should not have to step down because of a scandal that may have been created to stop him from being instated.
3.I think that Kavanaugh should take the polygraph test. It would show if he is actually guilty or if he is innocent. If he has nothing to hide it should not be a problem to take the test. If anything the test could clear his name and stop the scandal, giving him the opportunity to get the position as supreme court justice. By refusing to take the test, he has continued to feed to the public's assumptions of him being guilty.
Madison Kong
ReplyDelete1. The memoir does alter my perception of Kavanaugh because its account of his recklessness and tendency to party provides context in which the sexual assault allocations make sense.
2. No, partying and drinking as a teenager should not determine whether or not he steps down. The idea of him stepping down is unrelated to this part of his past where it is focused on the sexual assault allocations. Like the memoir, the recklessness makes the idea of sexual assault at a party more plausible.
3. Absolutely Kavanaugh should take the polygraph test especially since Dr. Ford's polygraph test indicated that she was not lying. It only makes sense for him to also take the test because he has completely denied her accusations.
1. The memoir alters my perception of Kavanaugh because it shows that he was capable of being reckless when it came to these parties.
ReplyDelete2. The partying and drinking should not be a reason for Kavanaugh to step down. Even though his past of drinking and partying makes the sexual assault claims more plausible they do not prove that such events occurred. If he was to step down solely because of the partying and drinking of his past, the media would most likely portray his stepping down as accepting the fact that he was guilty of sexual assault.
3. I believe that Kavanaugh should take the polygraph test as it will either help prove his innocence or help prove Dr. Ford's claims. The fact that Dr. Ford's polygraph determined that she was telling the truth, yet Kavanaugh denied all her claims means that either there is a misunderstanding or one side is lying.
Joey Zhang
ReplyDelete1. Mr. Judge's memoir changes my view on Kavanaugh. The reason why is because it shows just how reckless he can be as at the parties he had attended, he was often blacked out.
2. I don't believe that partying and drinking should be the key reason for Kavanaugh stepping down. Yes, his partying past makes the sexual assault claims more plausible, but they don't necessarily prove anything. They are only strong pieces of evidences that might help prove these claims. If he were to step down due to his partying past, then he is essentially admitting that he was in fact guilty of sexual assault.
3. I do believe that Kavanaugh should take the polygraph test as it will prove whether or not he is lying or not. Not only this, but Dr. Ford did the test, so it is only fair.
1. His memoir makes him seem like an immature man and how he attended many parties before. Therefore, it shows how he really is not the best candidate to be a supreme court judge, the highest court in the nation. It shows how he can't make good decisions and also be a good judge.
ReplyDelete2. I don't think he would step down because that would admit that he was partying immaturely. Sure everyone parties like that when they are younger but it doesn't make it okay when you become a federal government judge which enforces the under 21 drinking age. Also, his sexual misconduct is not okay in any circumstance.
3. I think Kavanaugh should take the test because Ford did. The only reason why he does not want to do it is because he said they are not applicable in Federal court and also probably because the accusations were true.
Ryan Lowe
ReplyDelete1) The memoir makes me very concerned about his actions. This is because it is one thing to participate in rather unsavory things, but it is another thing to completely disregard logic and advertise that they are doing so drastically bad. This does not alter my view of Kavanaugh because I already felt that he was weird since during his testimony he had an unsavory response to the questions that the senators asked him so much so that he ended up attacking back.
2) I believe that if Kavanaugh truly believes that he has done nothing wrong than he should not step down. The reality is that everything is perspective. If they believe they have done the right thing always then they have a clean conscious. However, if he has done something wrong then as a federal judge he must realize that what he is doing is wrong and must step down in order to maintain the image of fair impartial judges.
3) He should be asked to take a test. This is because if he has nothing to hide then he has nothing to loose. If he truly believes that he has done nothing wrong then he should not care if he takes the polygraph test. Weather or not he believes he did it is the only thing that matters. Even if Ford believes that Kavanaugh was bad to her if he believes that he has done nothing wrong and truthfully believes it then he is qualified to be a judge.