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The American Civil Liberties Union has announced its opposition to the appointment of Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, a scarcity in the organization's age-old practice of not endorsing or opposing candidates for the judiciary.
The ACLU said Saturday in a statement that Christine Blasey Ford's sexual misconduct charges against Kavanaugh, subsequent allegations of other women, "inadequate investigation" on these allegations and the The judge's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday is reason to doubt his ability to sit on the Supreme Court.
"This is not a decision made lightly," according to a resolution passed by the organization's national board. "We can not remain silent in these extraordinary circumstances about a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. The standard for such an appointment should be high and the burden falls on the candidate.
The organization said it was the fourth time in the ACLU's 98-year history that its board had voted against a Supreme Court candidate. He did not take such action against Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trump's first High Court candidate.
The ACLU opposed the appointment of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. in 2006, raising concerns about his "expanded view of executive power" and the decisions he wrote on race, religion and religion. Reproductive rights. President George W. Bush has appointed Alito to replace Judge Sandra Day O'Connor.
[Christine Blasey Ford’s sisters-in-law say Kavanaugh’s testimony was confusing and ‘belligerent’]
In 1987, the ACLU opposed the appointment of Judge Robert H. Bork by President Ronald Reagan, whom she considered "more radical than conservative." In 1971, she opposed the appointment of Judge William H. Rehnquist by President Richard Nixon, without taking a position when President Ronald Reagan later appointed Rehnquist to the position of Chief Justice.
In 1991, the ACLU remained neutral on the appointment of Justice Clarence Thomas, who was the victim of allegations of sexual harassment. But his southern section of California broke ranks with the national organization and opposed Thomas's candidacy, citing the judge's positions on affirmative action and prayer at school.
The ACLU has for years adhered to a strict policy not to endorse or oppose candidates for the positions of magistrates or executives. Later, he changed his rules and declared that he would oppose any application to the Supreme Court "whose record demonstrates a judicial philosophy that would fundamentally jeopardize the critical and unique role of the Supreme Court." in the protection of civil liberties in the United States ".
In the case of Kavanaugh, however, the ACLU stated that its opposition was not based on its judicial philosophy, nor on the fact that it raises concerns about civil liberties.
"We oppose him in light of the credible allegations of sexual assault against him," said ACLU President Susan Herman in a statement.
Ford, a 51-year-old California-based psychologist and professor, said 53-year-old Kavanaugh had drunkenly pinned her on a bed, tapped her, and covered her mouth with choke his cries while he was trying to undress during a party in the house. Maryland in the 1980s, while both were in high school. Kavanaugh strongly denied the allegations, as well as other charges against two female appointees.
[FBI reaches out to second woman who has accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct]
The ACLU has long touted a history of non-partisanship and stated that it worked to protect the civil rights of all peoples regardless of politics. For example, the organization was strongly criticized last year for fighting for the right of white nationalists to hold a rally in Charlottesville. Forty years ago, members of the ACLU resigned after the organization defended the rights of a neo-Nazi group to freedom of speech for their march to Skokie. , in Illinois, where many Holocaust survivors lived.
But the ACLU has long been considered a bastion of liberalism by some conservative critics.
Breitbart, a right-hand news site, described the ACLU as "an ideologically left-wing organization with close ties to the Democratic Party." Kris Kobach, convinced ally of Trump, described the ACLU as a "liberal organization, financed by George Soros", in reference to the billionaire investor who spends $ 150 million a year for groups such as the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
An article in Fox News cited the ACLU's position on gun control – that "legislatures may, in accordance with the Constitution, impose reasonable limits on the sale, ownership and enjoyment of firearms." Use of firearms, without raising any concerns about civil liberties'. ACLU has supported the National Rifle Association in a lawsuit against New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D).
Although the ACLU refrained from any categorical endorsement or opposition from political candidates, it made statements criticizing some people in power or who came forward.
After Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona Sheriff and Trump ally, announced his intention to run for the US Senate, the ACLU said Arpaio's history of "refusing to women incarcerated access to abortion "and" racially profiling Latinos "do not qualify him to become a senator. .
[Partisan politics and Kavanaugh’s defiant words put Supreme Court in unwelcome spotlight]
After Kobach announced his candidacy for governorship in Kansas, the ACLU cited his "platform of cruelty to undocumented immigrants and false allegations of electoral fraud." Kobach helped lead a much-criticized commission charged with investigating the alleged electoral fraud in the 2016 presidential election. One of the committee members, today dissolved, declared the month last, that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud.
The ACLU also raised concerns over Attorney General Jeff Sessions' positions on LGBT rights, capital punishment and the right to abortion, after President-elect Trump in November 2016 offered Sessions his post current. Similarly, the organization criticized the position of CIA director Mike Pompeo on mass surveillance of Americans.
At the time of Trump, the ACLU was at the forefront of the judicial struggles against the president's most controversial policies. He sued the Trump administration for separating families on the US-Mexico border and detaining asylum seekers, to name just a few. He has repeatedly challenged Trump's travel ban, which prevents travelers from some Muslim-majority countries from coming to the United States.
The ACLU, however, also sued Trump's predecessor on similar issues of civil liberties. He sued the Obama administration for detaining asylum seekers. Most notably, the organization has challenged the US government's surveillance program, which collects telephone records from millions of Americans.
Read more:
Steve Bannon thinks that Michael Avenatti could be a threat to Trump in 2020. Avenatti thinks so too.
Christine Blasey Ford's sisters-in-law say that Kavanaugh's testimony was confusing and "belligerent"
At least one senator did not watch Kavanaugh's hearings because of an emergency appendectomy
"Flake flakes": How Fox News hosts responded to the senator's call for a postponement of Kavanaugh's vote
The American Bar Association worried about Kavanaugh 12 years ago. Republicans also rejected them.
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