Supreme Court returns to full strength
Nomination fight over, new justice joins bench
WASHINGTON — Justice Brett Kavanaugh took his seat Tuesday on the Supreme Court, listening to oral arguments as the angry crowds venting rage at his confirmation and the conservative tilt of the bench dwindled to just a few angry protesters.
Kavanaugh, 53, a former appellate court judge, joined the court in the second week of its fall term. It followed a contentious 50-48 confirmation vote in the Senate on Saturday.
A private swearing-in ceremony was conducted at the Supreme Court on Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts and retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom Kavanaugh will replace.
Roberts acknowledged the new justice on the bench Tuesday morning.
“Welcome, Justice Kavanaugh, to the court,” Roberts said, adding that “we wish you a long, happy career in our common calling.”
A black-robed Kavanaugh smiled. Kavanaugh questioned lawyers before the court about federal sentencing laws and laughed with other justices during lighter moments and funny quips by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and other more senior members of the court.
He was seated next to Justice Elena Kagan, and the two shared a laugh during a private conversation.
“I think that most of the justices will attempt to work collegially with the newest justice because that is how a collegial court functions and gets its work done,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond School of Law professor and former faculty member at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law. “A number of them also had rather heated hearings themselves.”
With the Senate fight on the Kavanaugh nomination over, the political demonstrations from liberal activists and women’s groups subsided.
Only a smattering of protesters were outside the Supreme Court when Kavanaugh took the bench, a contrast to the crowds that had swarmed the building over the weekend. Still, security was tight, and the front steps of the court were
barricaded to the public.
Kavanaugh brings to the Supreme Court the first group of all-female law clerks.
During his confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh boasted about his record of hiring women clerks, citing his mother, a former prosecutor and federal judge, and the barriers women still face in the law profession.
His first day on the job also was watched by his two daughters, Margaret and Liza, who watched the oral arguments inside the ornate courtroom with their mom.
Kavanaugh is the second conservative judge selected by President Donald Trump to sit on the Supreme Court. Last year, he appointed Neil Gorsuch of Colorado to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died unexpectedly in Texas in 2016.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.