Protest against Kavanaugh.
Hundreds in Civic Center Park rally against President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee
Hundreds of people who oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court gathered in Civic Center Park on Sunday to register voters, share stories and voice their concerns.
“I feel like Brett Kavanaugh is someone who believes in unlimited executive powers … ,” Barbara Ittner said. “I hope we can avoid the nomination.”
Trump nominated Kavanaugh for the country’s highest court in July, a few weeks after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement. Kennedy was considered a swing vote on major social issues such as abortion, affirmative action and same-sex marriage. Kavanaugh, on the other hand, was described by rallygoers as “extremely conservative” and someone who would vote to roll back protections for immigrants, the disabled and women.
“He’s being rushed through the confirmation process,” said Karen Middleton, executive director of Colorado’s National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.
She helped organize Sunday’s “Unite for Justice Rally” in downtown Denver in conjunction with counterparts in other states across the country.
The 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee
published a letter Friday asking to postpone Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.
“Importantly, there is no legitimate reason for the Senate to rush this nomination and fail to perform its constitutional duty,” the letter said. “This is especially true, when the President, who faces significant legal jeopardy, chose the one candidate who has consistently and clearly expressed doubt as to whether a sitting president can be investigated or indicted for criminal wrongdoing.”
The panel’s chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, doesn’t agree. He’s repeatedly shot down the request and characterized it as attempt to stall the president’s pick.
Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet expressed “grave concerns” about the nomination shortly after Kavanaugh was announced, but he hasn’t directly called for a delay.
Bennet wrote on Twitter that Kavanaugh’s opinion that “we should not burden a sitting president with criminal prosecutions” underscores “the need to review his full record before hearings begin.”
Senators have been arguing for weeks over whether they’re entitled to review several years worth of emails and other documents from Kavanaugh’s time at the White House.
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, met with the nominee in July and described Kavanaugh as “well-qualified.”
“We had a long conversation about the role of precedent and how a judge should perform on the bench,” Gardner said in a statement. “It’s not about personal opinion, it’s not about personal biases or policy preferences; it’s about looking at the law and ruling on the law and where the law takes you.”
But Ittner and her friends at the Civic Center Park rally don’t believe Kavanaugh can keep his personal opinions out of the Supreme Court’s decisions.
“I don’t trust his word,” Ittner said.