Kavanaugh Faces Sexual Assault Accusations: Why WHHS Should Care

Kavanaugh+Faces+Sexual+Assault+Accusations%3A+Why+WHHS+Should+Care

By Kendra Levendusky and Dylan Orren-King

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has had recent allegations against him for supposedly sexually assaulting a woman named Dr. Christine Balsley Ford three decades ago at a high school party.

Kavanaugh’s response to these claims is that they are entirely false and that the accuser has no evidence to back herself up.

“I think that you should let this play out.” said an anonymous teacher in WHHS, “… I have no idea if he did do anything, or if he didn’t do anything. But we have plenty of time to get the facts straight and if he did do something inappropriate, we’ll have to assess from there and I think he should be disqualified. If they find that there’s nothing conclusive… then I think that the process should continue.”

This is not only an important topic in contemporary politics, but it has the potential to determine the ideological makeup of the court for decades to come.  Kavanaugh is a staunch conservative, and since he is replacing the Court’s sole swing voter, Anthony Kennedy, it will shift from politically balanced to solidly right leaning. Seeing as Justices serve for life or until retirement, his appointment would affect millions of lives well into the foreseeable future.

Frustratingly, This case is along the lines of a “he said, she said” situation. Since this apparent sexual assault happened nearly thirty years ago with little concrete evidence, legal authorities must keep accuracy and the time frame into consideration.

“Allegations are allegations.” an anonymous student at WHHS said, “If there’s no evidence you can’t prove it you know? But the same thing goes for him… That’s just the game their playing. Anyone going into politics or in any position of power, someone’s gonna bring up dirt against them if they don’t want them to be in that position.”

United States President Donald Trump is in support of Kavanaugh’s and has had a firm stance that Kavanaugh is telling the truth. He has also attacked Kavanaugh’s accuser’s credibility in a series of tweets.

“I mean, a Supreme Court justice shouldn’t have anything involved with a case against him,” said Luna Osmam, a sophomore out of WHHS. “It makes me feel like they should listen to her. Being fifteen or being 25 makes no difference… they’re still a person.”

As a society, teens and young adults being aware of this case is incredibly important because if Kavanaugh succeeds he will be in office for the remainder of his lifetime. That being said, it is up to the next generations to determine why this is so important.

Update: As the nation looked on, Kavanaugh and Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, September 27. Although the committee voted to advance his nomination, the Senate, which has the final say in his appointment, agreed to delay their vote by one week, in which time the FBI will conduct an investigation of the allegations against Kavanaugh.