Austin, Texas — Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Friday that American history shows that judicial decisions that were unpopular in their time can later become part of the “fabric of American constitutional law.”
Kavanaugh spoke Friday at a conference attended by judges, attorneys and other court staff on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi and is one of the most conservative circuits.
In a question-and-answer session, he was not asked about the current court’s divisive rulings, such as the 2022 overturning of federal abortion protections from Roe v. Wade, which has become a major political issue in this year’s elections. the whole country. year. He was part of the conservative majority in that ruling.
However, he was asked how judges and courts can help increase public confidence in the judiciary.
In his response, Kavanaugh said that some of the Supreme Court’s rulings from the 1950s and 1960s on monumental issues such as civil and criminal rights, freedom of speech and school prayer — including the iconic Brown v. Board of Education case that ended legal segregation in public schools – were unpopular when they were issued.
“The Warren court was no fun for the judges. … They were basically unpopular from start to finish from ’53 to ’69,” Kavanaugh said. “What the court continued to do was play itself and stick to its principles. And you know, look, a lot of those decisions were unpopular, and a lot of them are now landmarks that we accept as part of the fabric of America, and the fabric of American constitutional law.
He said federal judges “stay as far away from politics as possible.”
“It’s an everyday thing. I don’t think it’s a ‘flipping of the switch’. It appears in court every day and tries to show respect for the parties in a way that is clear and understandable,” he said.
Kavanaugh was asked about his personal security, which he said protects his family 24 hours a day, and about protesters who have shown up at his home. In 2022, a man with a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested at the judge’s home in Maryland.
Asked if protesters are still showing up, Kavanaugh said, “It depends on the day. … Not so much. I think I’ll leave it at that.”
Kavanaugh’s daughters were in seventh and fifth grades when he was confirmed in 2018 and are now in high school.
“They grew up understanding what it means and driving the car, and at the basketball games they pick up the security guy in the stands. Hopefully you pray that it won’t have a long-term impact on them,” he said.