Protesters made themselves seen and heard outside the Supreme Court Building.
Protesters made themselves seen and heard outside the Supreme Court Building.
The reverential quiet inside the wood-panelled Justices' Conference Room was what you would expect for the swearing in of a Supreme Court judge. The shouting and chanting outside was what we have come to expect of the proceedings surrounding the court's latest appointment.
Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as the 114th justice of the US Supreme Court yesterday after a wrenching debate over sexual misconduct and judicial temperament that shattered the Senate, captivated the nation and ushered in an acrimonious new level of polarisation - now encroaching on the court that the 53-year-old judge may well swing rightward for decades to come.
Even as Kavanaugh took his oath of office yesterday in a quiet private ceremony, not long after the narrowest Senate confirmation in nearly a century and a half, protesters chanted outside the court building across the street from the Capitol.
The climactic 50-48 roll call capped a fight that seized the national conversation after claims emerged that he had sexually assaulted women three decades ago - allegations he emphatically denied. Those accusations transformed the clash from a routine struggle over judicial ideology into an angry jumble of questions about victims' rights, the presumption of innocence and personal attacks on nominees.
People protest on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington. Photo / AP
His confirmation provides a defining accomplishment for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which found a unifying force in the cause of putting a new conservative majority on the court. Before the sexual accusations grabbed the Senate's and the nation's attention, Democrats had argued that Kavanaugh's rulings and writings as an appeals court judge raised serious concerns about his views on abortion rights and a president's right to bat away legal probes.
Trump, flying to Kansas for a political rally, flashed a thumbs-up gesture when the tally was announced and praised Kavanaugh for being "able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats". He rang Kavanaugh to congratulate him, then at the rally called the Democrats "an angry left-wing mob".
Senators predicted voters would react strongly by defeating the other party's candidates in next month's congressional elections.
Capitol Hill Police officers arrive to help move activists from the steps of the Supreme Court after the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Photo / AP
"It's turned our base on fire," declared Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. But Democratic leader Chuck Schumer forecast gains for his party instead: "Change must come from where change in America always begins: the ballot box."
The justices themselves made a quiet show of solidarity. Kavanaugh was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts and the man he's replacing, retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, as fellow Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan looked on - two conservatives and two liberals.
Still, Kagan noted the night before that Kennedy has been "a person who found the centre" and "it's not so clear we'll have that" now.
Trump has now put his stamp on the court with his second justice in as many years. Yet Kavanaugh is joining under a cloud. Accusations from several women remain under scrutiny, and House Democrats have pledged further investigation if they win the majority in November. Outside groups are culling an unusually long paper trail from his previous government and political work, with the National Archives and Records Administration expected to release a cache of millions of documents later this month.
Kavanaugh, a father of two, strenuously denied the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teens. An appellate court judge on the District of Columbia circuit for the past 12 years, he pushed for the Senate vote as hard as Republican leaders - not just to reach this capstone of his legal career, but in fighting to clear his name.
Jessica Campbell-Swanson, from Denver, sits in the lap of the Contemplation of Justice statue as activists protest on the steps of the Supreme Court. Photo / AP
In Washington, 164 people were arrested yesterday, most for demonstrating on the Capitol steps, 14 for disrupting the Senate's roll call vote.
McConnell said that the "mob" of opposition - confronting senators in the hallways and at their homes - united his narrowly divided GOP majority as Kavanaugh's confirmation teetered and will give momentum to his party in the midterm elections next month.
Beyond the sexual misconduct allegations, Democrats raised questions about Kavanaugh's temperament and impartiality.
The fight ended up less about judicial views than the sexual assault accusations that riveted the nation and are certain to continue a national debate and #MeToo reckoning that is yet to be resolved.
Republicans argued that a supplemental FBI investigation instigated by wavering GOP senators and ordered by the White House turned up no corroborating witnesses to the claims and that Kavanaugh had sterling credentials for the court. Democrats dismissed the truncated report as insufficient.
