Brett Kavanaugh starts working after controversy over a sexual assault case

Judge Brett Kavanaugh did it on his second day on the bench.

"So you just changed your answer," he told a lawyer who had suddenly reversed his argument in a maritime law case. When the lawyer recognized him, Kavanaugh wryly noted: "Okay, just make sure."

The exchange provoked laughter in the courtroom and big smiles from his teammates, the kind of thing that makes humor at the often stifling court.

Despite the explosive political struggle surrounding its confirmation, the 114th Justice fits perfectly into these marbled corridors, where most of the Court's work is done in private. According to sources, Kavanaugh was warmly received after the most controversial judicial confirmation in the history of the Senate – an allegation revealed by sexual assault charges that Kavanaugh's critics have dismissed as disqualifying, but that its allies call it unfounded and murderous.

Kavanaugh denied the charges and pulled back well during a moving audience where he and accuser Christine Blasey Ford testified separately. A few weeks later, Washington seems to have opted for another controversy in the mid-season: the migrant caravan, the postal bomber and birthright citizenship, among others.

For Kavanaugh, the tension around his seat has subsided. A certain sense of normalcy returned to the branch of government normally isolated from the Capitol's discord on the street.

It is the day-to-day work of being a Supreme Court Judge who occupies Kavanaugh's time.

"The last two months have been long and the process is obviously very controversial, but the good thing I've found is that he's reinstating the position in which he is most at home." That is, the judge, the judge, "said Roman Martinez, a former Kavanaugh lawyer who remains a close friend and confidant. "It means doing the hard work of getting into the cases, reading the memoirs."

Being welcomed into the exclusive club of nine – no questions asked – is a real show of courtesy, but it has practical roots. Personal agreements promote long-term stability and can mitigate ideological differences on pressing issues.

Admittedly, the dynamic of a strong conservative majority of five to four votes will test the court's ability to stay above political fray. Some judges have recently expressed concern over the bitter confirmation that would tarnish the court's reputation.

"For me, the obvious culprit is the Congress, the polarization that exists with the votes along the party lines, where nothing can touch the other," said Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week. "What a difference between this time and what we are witnessing today," she said of her vote in the 96-3 Senate in 1993.

However, Kavanaugh's supporters believe that his personal style and deep professional ties with the Supreme Court will facilitate his first months of court appearance.

"During his twelve years of experience as a judge at the Court of Appeal, he was represented ninety-seven percent of the time with the majority. So he agreed with the rest of his colleagues, "said Jennifer Mascott, a former Kavanaugh pathologist who is now working at the Law School of the Anton Mas Scalia at George Mason University. "Many of us who worked with him continued to work in a similar role for Supreme Court justices, on his personal recommendation. So they knew him and his reputation. "

SHOW OF HANDS

The first thing Judge Kavanaugh recently did with his eight colleagues as a group was to shake their hands.

In a tradition that goes back several decades, members of the Supreme Court stand behind the red velvet curtains of the audience room adorned before every public hearing – and offer this unobtrusive gesture at a private rally unanimously.

Kavanaugh had just made his rhetorical voice heard, denying allegations of sexual conduct and sexual assault dating back many years. It was confirmed by an extremely close vote in the Senate (50 votes to 48). He was now preparing for his first argument earlier this month. The night before, he went to the White House clean room to attend a swearing-in ceremony, and all the judges were there, silent.

Kavanaugh promised to work with them, without bias or resentment.

"I am honored to work alongside all of my new colleagues, whom I know and admire deeply and deeply respect," he said. "The Supreme Court is a team of nine people and I will always be a team player in the team of nine people."

Sources said the new member was touched by the reception of his fellow judges, including Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both named by Obama. Each had previously hired two Kavanaugh lawyers from his time at the Federal Court of Appeal.

A few days after Kavanaugh's debut, Chief Justice John Roberts mentioned it in a Minnesota speech – calling the hand shake "a reminder that, as our last colleague said, we do not sit aside, we are not part of the caucus. in separate rooms, we do not serve a part or an interest, we serve a nation. "

This happens while Kavanaugh's equals obliquely recognize the controversy surrounding his appointment and their efforts to put all this behind, for the good of the institution.

"It's a really divided time," Kagan noted a day before the Senate vote on Oct. 6. "Part of the strength and legitimacy of the court lies in the fact that people do not see it in the same way as other governing structures in the country. It is extremely important that the court keep an extremely important thing. "

"We have to go beyond partisanship in our personal relationships," said Sotomayor at the same event.

A bit of discord followed Kavanaugh on the bench. Roberts acknowledged that he had received unspecified ethical complaints about him after the confirmation and asked a Denver Federal Court of Appeal to investigate the claims, through a court of appeal. an internal review process.

S & # 39; INSTALL

Just one day after his official swearing in, Kavanaugh started working in his new offices. With two days to prepare for the pleadings, Kavanaugh needed help.

Four newly appointed legal assistants met this Sunday, marking the start of a frenzy for the first few days.

They are all women, a first in the history of the court, according to the promise made by Kavanaugh during his confirmation. Among them, Kim Jackson is one of the three African-American legal assistants in the high court of this mandate. Another one of those three had already worked for Kavanaugh.

"Since I have been in court, no federal judge – not one in the country – has sent more women than clerics to the Supreme Court in the Supreme Court," he told the Judicial Commission. of the Senate.

Mr. Kavanaugh, 53, moved into the rooms formerly occupied by Judge Samuel Alito, who was transferred to the offices vacated by retired Judge Anthony Kennedy.

Kavanaugh started to build his office suite to create a comfortable and efficient workplace. Many photos of his two daughters and various sporting memorabilia adorn the walls, as well as law books and legal files stacked on his desk.

He hired secretaries and a messenger, as well as valuable legal assistants, who usually serve one year.

These clerks will be particularly important in helping the justice system carry out its workload; it will be a whirlwind of nonstop activity until the end of the term, end of June.

But it's a familiar place for Kavanaugh, who worked at the court while he was working for Kennedy from 1993 to 1994. Although retired, Kennedy still keeps smaller rooms in the building, and both speak often, according to sources. President Trump's other candidate, Judge Neil Gorsuch, also worked as a clerk for Kennedy and attended the same high school as Kavanaugh.

And more relationships: Kagan hired Kavanaugh to teach part-time at Harvard Law School when she was Dean. They are now sitting next to each other on the right side of the bench and have been seen chatting and smiling amicably during public sessions.

"I think she was doing a very public show that it was one of them," Martinez said. "And right after the end of the arguments, the first day, she gave him a big handshake. It was a good time.

Kavanaugh has also reconnected with six of his former judicial assistants from the Federal Court of Appeal in the street where he worked, who are currently working with other judges.

The new guy also expects to use a lot the full-service gym of the neoclassical building on the fifth floor, which includes a small basketball court, known to insiders as the "highest court in the country". A sports fan, Kavanaugh had played hoops there when he nailed.

BENCH STYLE

Kavanaugh has so far posted the minimalist style in the oral arguments of most new members. He waits patiently for his more experienced colleagues to come face to face, but unlike many of them, Kavanaugh routinely asks tough questions from both sides, including Trump's attorneys.

The questions from Kavanaugh's council are usually brief, precise, and textual, which says little about how he could ultimately vote on the outcome.

The pen in his hand taking notes, he often puts on his glasses to read the memory that he has in front of him. He laughs at his colleagues' jokes and sometimes nods when there are salient points, especially those of Kagan.

"I suppose I repeat Judge Kagan's question, but why create this new thing with language that was not designed for that?", He asked towards the end of the one-hour dispute over the arbitration contracts, Monday.

In his second case that morning, Kavanaugh and Kagan exchanged a funny gesture of politeness:

Kavanaugh (to the council): You say if …

Kagan: I thought … No, go ahead.

Kavanaugh (turning to Kagan): Oh, go ahead.

Kagan (smiling and extending his hand): Please …

Kavanaugh: Thank you …

His behavior is very similar to that of Alito, named by Bush, whose discreet style masks a piercing intellect.

Lunch is served

Being a junior judge, it's also going through an initiation.

Kavanaugh has been assigned to the inner courtyard committee for the cafeteria, where choices of dessert and silverware will compete with constitutional issues, large and small.

Kagan can show empathy after serving for years and putting the cafeteria duty into context a few months ago.

"I think it's a way of making people humble," she said of her job as a lunch supervisor at the office. "You think you're a little hot, you're an important person, you've just been confirmed in the US Supreme Court, and now you're going to attend the monthly cafeteria committee meetings where "Agenda is exactly what happened to the good recipe for chocolate chip cookies."

Kavanaugh will hear about it when the food is no longer up to scratch. A court tradition is that judges eat together privately after pleadings.

Another "junior" justice task is to open the door when members meet behind closed doors for weekly closed-door conferences – voting on business and deciding which petitions will be added to the roll. Kavanaugh has already attended two such meetings, as well as traditional lunches with his colleagues in the judges' private dining room.

Kavanaugh will also take notes at conferences and will vote last when cases are resolved.

Many people on the ground admit that this learning curve can be disconcerting and often overwhelming.

Alito said that he was frequently lost in the marble hallways of the yard when he took office in 2006, especially since the building was undergoing renovations at the same time. # 39; era.

Judge Stephen Breyer said that it had taken him years to feel comfortable in his work.

And Judge Clarence Thomas once recalled what the late Judge Byron White had told him when he donned his dress in 1991: "Well, Clarence, in your first five years, you wonder how you have arrived here. After that, you wonder how your colleagues came here.

This article was originally published on Fox News and has been reproduced with permission.