Kavanaugh’s inevitable confirmation

If some of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s lower court opinions and dissents were applied at the highest court of the land, it’s possible state and local bans on semiautomatic assault rifles would be struck down and that the religious beliefs of some bosses could dictate whether insurance covers contraception for many women.

These are outcomes we cannot support, and outcomes that we know many, if not most, our readers would not support.

But ultimately, we agree with Sen. Lindsey Graham’s approach to the nomination process as he expressed on NBC’s Meet the Press: “I would tell my Democratic friends what I told my Republican friends: When Obama won, he made two picks, Sotomayor and Kagan. I voted for both because I thought they were qualified. I voted for Alito and Roberts and I would imagine I’ll vote for this pick.”

Kavanaugh is eminently qualified. He is well educated, strikingly intelligent and by all accounts a good man devoted to his family and his community. There’s no reason for our senators not to support him.

Just as we said when the Senate was debating the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch, we have faith that these men of the robe will put aside their personal beliefs and religious convictions and stand by stare decisis and the language of the Constitution.

We would much prefer a more-moderate judge be sitting before the Senate Judiciary Committee this month for U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

It is a misunderstanding of the female reproductive system to say birth control methods that prevent an egg from implanting in the uterus are “abortion inducing.” We understand for some that is a deeply held religious conviction, a conviction that should be accommodated, but Kavanaugh’s dissent in Priests for Life v. Dept. of Health and Human Services refused to accept the reasonable request that employers of faith wishing to not cover contraception simply fill out a form opting out of the mandate.

We would also prefer a judge who acknowledges in his writings that there are compelling government interests for reasonable restrictions on certain deadly weapons that outweigh an individual’s right to bear arms.

In short, we would prefer Merrick Garland, but instead we have Kavanaugh.

Republicans — including Graham whose hypocrisy on this issue doesn’t go un-noted — inflicted more damage on this process than can be easily rectified.

By refusing to hold hearings on President Barack Obama’s nominee, the GOP made it clear they have no respect for their congressional responsibilities. Garland was not only qualified but he was a moderate voice with whom several Republicans surely found common ground on many legal rulings.

Democrats can take the high road. They are vetting Kavanaugh with the kind of rigor appropriate for a lifetime appointment. But so far, nothing has appeared that would make Kavanaugh unfit for the job.

Elections have consequences, and since 2016 the GOP has controlled two branches of government. The result is that the third branch will subsequently become more conservative.

We ask Gorsuch and Kavanaugh to not make us rue this endorsement of their credentials and their character.

And perhaps some day the Supreme Court nomination process can return to what it should be, an apolitical assessment of a judge’s qualifications.

— The Denver Post for Digital First Media

Kavanaugh is eminently qualified. He is well educated, strikingly intelligent and by all accounts a good man devoted to his family and his community. There’s no reason not to support him.