Strengths and weaknesses of the confirmation process 4.2

Question 1

what are the strengths of the confirmation process

Answer 1

• background checks
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate confirmation
• independence
• ABA

Question 2

how is ‘ background checks ‘ a strength of the confirmation process

Answer 2

• Brett Kavanaugh as his allegations against sexual assault
• The FBI did their background check to make sure that his character was suitable for a role as prestigious as Associate Justice
• JEFF FLAKE said he would not vote i Brett Kavanaugh unless FBI did thorough checks on him

Question 3

how is ‘ Senate Judiciary Committee ‘ a strength of the confirmation process

Answer 3

• have to complete a lengthy pre-hearings questionnaire for the Judiciary Committee.
• people, like Harriet Miers, who complete the questionnaire lazily or incomplete will be condemned
• she withdrew her nomination after this

Question 4

how is ‘ Senate confirmation ‘ a strength of the confirmation process

Answer 4

• Robert Bork and Harriet Miers both having name withdrawn
• shows the lack of presidential patronage

Question 5

how is ‘ independence ‘ a strength of the confirmation process

Answer 5

• Justice David Souter was appointed by George H.W. Bush but ruled mostly liberal instead of his republican counterpart = there is no presidential patronage
• Chief Justice Earl Warren was appointed by Einshower and it was the ‘the biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made’, Warren;s decisions were very liberal such as of Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Question 6

how is ‘ ABA ‘ a strength of the confirmation process

Answer 6

• categorised into ‘qualified’, ‘well qualified’ or ‘not qualified’
• this shows that the people who get in are not judged politically, but on the subject of merit

Question 7

what are the Weaknesses of the confirmation process

Answer 7

• over-politicised
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• ABA
• ‘media circus’
• re-enforces to the public that courts are politicised

Question 8

how is ‘ over-politicised ‘ a weakness of the confirmation process

Answer 8

• senate reflects party loyalty
• STEPHEN BREYERS = 87-9?!?!?!?
• Kavanaugh = 50-48
• shows that personal politics is very crucial to ruling

Question 9

how is ‘ Senate Judiciary Committee ‘ a weakness of the confirmation process

Answer 9

• seen as aggressive
• seen in both Kavanaugh and Thomas appointment process
• instead of talking about their personal merit and experience, they focused on SA claims

Question 10

how is ‘ ABA ‘ a weakness of the confirmation process

Answer 10

• Maya Sen 2015, found there was sexist and racial dicrimination within the ABA
• the ABA could be equally as politicised

Question 11

how is ‘ media circus ‘ a weakness of the confirmation process

Answer 11

• KAVANAUGH’s SA CLAIMS
• Demand Justice spent $1.1 MIllion on opposing TV ads for Brett
• Judicial Crisis Network spent $3.9 Million on confirming Brett as a good future justice

Question 12

how is ‘ re-enforces to the public that courts are politicised ‘ a weakness of the confirmation process

Answer 12

• seeing the debates mostly being republic vs liberal senators shows polarisation between parties and leave US citizens uneasy