Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh gave his thoughts on the incoming freshman, saying that he is “optimistic” about the future of the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh said that the nine Supreme Court Justices share “great relations both personally and professionally” despite disagreements and the perception that it is divided.
“We only get tough cases, and we disagree on some of those. I think that's more nuanced than it is sometimes portrayed,” Kavanaugh said, adding that even after every argument and conference, the group eats lunch together becoming friends.
One of the most notable cases, which drew nationwide criticism, was the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June of last year.
“You can't talk about work at lunch. So, you talk about the things that you would talk about with your friends. You talk about your kids, you talk about movies, you talk about books, you talk about war stories … again and again,” Kavanaugh told a group of law students while speaking at the Notre Dame Law school.
The conservative justice went on to praise his liberal colleague, Ketanji Jackson Brown, saying that she is "off to a great start" and is "thoroughly prepared.”
Kavanaugh also praised the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Stephen Breyer for welcoming him to the court after facing allegations of sexual misconduct and assault, which Republicans argued was a “sham.”
He went on to call the unusually long delay in the release of the court’s first opinion of the term due to a “coincidence” concerning “which mix of cases” was argued in October and November.
The court only released its first opinion this week, breaking tradition.
According to court watchers, they believe the reason the court waited to issue an opinion this term was because it was anticipating the release of the investigative report. That report was produced on January 19, with the justices announcing that the Marshal of the court had been unable to identify the person responsible for the leak.
However, Kavanaugh said that there was no connection between the report and the lag in opinions.
The leak of the report caused protests all around the country, with many vandalizing churches and pro-life centers.
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