Justin Driver: Opening of Kavanaugh's Hearing "Unlike Any That I’ve Ever Witnessed"

Washington Wednesday: Kavanaugh confirmation

Here to discuss Day 1 of the Kavanaugh hearing is Justin Driver. He’s a professor of law at the University of Chicago.

Professor, it was this very Supreme Court seat that Judge Robert Bork was once nominated to fill. That confirmation fight 31 years ago proved to be the moment when Supreme Court vacancies became much more politicized than they had been before. Was Day 1 of the Kavanaugh hearing reminiscent of the Bork battle?

JUSTIN DRIVER, GUEST: The scene that unfolded at the opening of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing was unlike any that I’ve ever witnessed. I think that this is quite distinct from what happened to Judge Bork in the sense that emotions are running incredibly high over the Supreme Court ever since the Republican Senate declined to give Judge Merrick Garland a hearing for his nomination to the Supreme Court. So, some of that came to the floor with respect to Judge Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court, but I think that Judge Kavanaugh and his replacing Justice Kennedy rather than a far-right person like Justice Scalia has brought those issues even more to the floor.

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