Be fair in coverage of judge

Justice Malala only painted half the picture in his article (“May new world win this time”, September 25) and gave the impression that the two women concerned in the case of judge Brett Kavanaugh were being hard done by, when that is not exactly true.

Few people in SA have listened to or even heard the other side of the story.

Kavanaugh has had his name put forward to become a judge on the US Supreme Court.

Before that happens he has had to undergo hours of questioning from the US Senate and Congress.

He also has had six FBI reports detailed about his life over the years and in not one was he found to be anything but a man of high integrity.

His name was coming up for the crucial vote when a day before this vote a woman, Christine Ford, who is a lawyer, claimed that she had been molested or an attempt was made to rape her by Kavanaugh at a party that took place 36 years previously.

Ford evidently gave this information in the form of a letter to a Democratic congresswoman, Dianne Feinstein, in July this year and throughout the hearings nothing was said about the alleged crime or the letter.

Two days before the confirmation vote the information in the letter was leaked to the press, that is CNN and the other left-wing news channels. This brought all proceedings to a halt.

The Democrats immediately called for an investigation and a hearing.

Ford at first said that she did not want to have to face the hearing, but then agreed to do so under certain conditions:

● Kavanaugh was to address the hearing first, that is deny or prove that the claim was not true;

● She would follow with her claims, and

● No lawyers were allowed to cross-examine her, only congressmen and women.

As yet the letter pertaining to these accusations has not been given to Kavanaugh nor to any Republican senator and only to the Democrats!

Justice Malala, the justice system in the US is based on innocent before being proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

First, the accuser must present his or her case and then the accused may cross-examine and present his or her case to prove his or her innocence.

How on earth can the process that Ford has put forward ever even be considered by any fair-minded person?

It is not a process of any court I have ever heard of.

Would you, Justice Malala, agree to state your case of innocence before ever knowing what the charges were based on because that is exactly what Kavanaugh is being asked to do?

If anyone has followed this whole process it can be seen as a delaying tactic to stop Kavanaugh being elected to fill the vacancy seat in the supreme court.

The Democrats do not want this because he is a conservative judge and in certain cases this may go against what the Democrats want.

Let’s be fair here.

John Finlayson

Port Elizabeth