Kavanaugh wants court to hear more cases each term
Justice sees opportunity to ‘clear up confusion’
AUSTIN, Texas − Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh would take more cases than his colleagues want to decide each term, the justice said Friday while fielding questions that ranged from why the court is hearing fewer cases than usual to whether he’s been to a Taylor Swift concert.
Yes, on the concert. No, on whether he’s ever had a friendship bracelet.
“We were way ahead of the curve. I went in 2012,” the father of two daughters said of Swift during an appearance at a judicial conference in Austin. “It was great.”
Kavanaugh was interviewed by Chief Judge Priscilla Richman of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a conversation that came as the Supreme Court has a number of major decisions pending the remainder of this term, including some from the 5th Circuit as well as former President Donald Trump’s request for immunity from federal election interference charges.
“We don’t like making snap decisions,” Kavanaugh said when asked about the number of cases the justices are being asked to decide on an expedited basis.
Kavanaugh, who was nominated to the court during the Trump administration, did not discuss any of the pending cases.
In addition to Trump’s immunity appeal, other major cases the court will decide before adjourning for the summer involve abortion, gun rights, homelessness, air pollution, and content moderation on social media.
The court is expected to hand down about 60 decisions this term, the fifth in a row in which it’s been that low, according to Steve Vladeck, a court watcher at the University of Texas School of Law. That’s a level not seen since 1864, Vladeck said.
Kavanaugh said the court should be deciding between 70 and 75 cases each term.
He said he votes more often than his colleagues to take a case and has begun publicly saying when he wants to hear an appeal that others reject. Four of the nine justices must agree to accept a case.
Some of the rejected appeals are not those that would get a lot of attention but are “the kind of nuts-and-bolts cases” where there’s confusion in the courts about a prior decision or a federal law.
“And I think we should jump in and try to clear up confusion if we can,” he said.
Kavanaugh also acknowledged that the court can cause confusion by trying to get as many justices as possible to sign onto a majority opinion.
“Clarity can sometimes be in tension with consensus and compromise,” he said. “And I’m very much focused, as I think my colleagues are, on having a single majority opinion, if possible.”
Most of the 20 decisions the court has decided so far this term have been unanimous. The pending major rulings are expected to be more divided.
Kavanaugh, however, cautioned against trying to gauge the outcome of a case from oral arguments.
“It’s like picking who’s going to win the game in the fourth inning,” he said. “Maybe it’s predictive, but not at all dispositive.”