WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh says the public shouldn’t read anything into the court’s slow start to issuing opinions.
Every year the judges start hearing cases in October and generally finish their work by the end of June before the summer break. This term, however, he went more than three months without solving any case that heard objections. On Monday, the justices finally announced a unanimous decision in one case and rejected the other.
Some observers wondered whether the slow pace could be the result of various factors: changes in the makeup of the court with the addition of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, lack of consensus on the bench divided first or as a result of the last season of leakage of the draft opinion. in a case that overturned half a century of abortion rights.
Kavanaugh underestimated the speed of the court.
“I’m sure they’ll all come out at the end of June. So I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. … It’s just a coincidence that there’s a mix of cases in October and November,” Kavanaugh said during an appearance at the University of Notre Dame law school on Monday, the same day with the first opinion of the term announced. Kavanaugh is in law school and was not on the bench to hear Justice Amy Coney Barrett announce her opinion on the veteran’s disability case.
Kavanaugh was not asked when he appeared about the leak of the last abortion decision, although he mentioned it obliquely, calling the last term a “difficult year in court.” Kavanaugh, who ultimately voted to repeal abortion rights, was the target of protests and death threats after the leak.
Kavanaugh was also not asked about a new documentary examining allegations of sexual misconduct against him that surfaced during his 2018 confirmation hearings. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Kavanaugh talked about several other topics, including the experience of going to Catholic school and how it shaped him, the relationship between judges and his experience working for President George W. Bush before becoming a judge. He spoke with Notre Dame law school dean G. Marcus Cole during a conversation that lasted about an hour.
“The experience with the court – for four and a half years and now – there is a good relationship between the nine judges, personally and professionally. … We only ask for difficult cases. We disagree on some of them. I think it is more than what is depicted, “he said of the court, which is currently split 6-3 between conservatives and liberals.
Kavanaugh also weighed in on the recent controversy over US News & World Report’s law school rankings that have led to boycotts by some of the top programs.
“I think the rating is very problematic. They are based on things, from what I understand, which are very amorphous, subjective, very word-of-mouth factors that have nothing to do with the education you actually receive,” said Kavanaugh, who attended Yale Law School. , the first to step down from the ranks.
Although Kavanaugh spoke at Notre Dame on Friday, video of the first appearance was made public on Friday.
Court is now in recess. The justices will return to the bench in late February when they will hear arguments on cases involving President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation program, two important internet cases and another case on pandemic-era restrictions on asylum known as Title 42.