Six UK law professors sign letter urging Senate to oppose Kavanaugh nomination

Six University of Kentucky educators were among more than 1,200 law professors to sign a letter urging the U.S. Senate not to confirm Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination.

Published on The New York Times, the letter states Kavanaugh “did not display the impartiality and judicial temperament requisite to sit on the highest court of our land.”

Three women, including Christine Blasey Ford, have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault or exposing himself in the early 1980s. Blasey Ford testified in front of a Senate Judiciary Committee last week and detailed her allegations, which Kavanaugh vehemently denied in his testimony to the committee. He also blamed Democrats for the treatment he received.

At senators behest, the FBI investigated and the agency’s latest report Thursday did not corroborate “any of the sexual misconduct allegations against” Kavanaugh, said Majority Leader and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, according to the Associated Press. Senate Democrats say the investigation is incomplete.

Kavanaugh’s demeanor and conduct during the hearing alarmed the law professors. Those who signed the letter said Kavanaugh was “repeatedly aggressive” in his remarks, was “discourteous to senators” and “exhibited a lack of commitment to judicious inquiry.”

“Brett Kavanaugh displayed a lack of judicial temperament that would be disqualifying for any court, and certainly for elevation to the highest court of the land,” the letter states.

UK College of Law professors Jennifer Bird-Pollan, Mary Davis, Joshua Douglas, James Donovan, Diana Kraft, Courtney Lollar signed the letter, which was to be shared with senators..

Professors from Harvard, where Kavanaugh previously taught, and Yale, Kavanaugh’s alma mater, have also signed the letter.

The judiciary committee voted to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate, which is expected to attempt a vote Friday.

This story was originally published October 4, 2018 at 10:03 AM.