Rep. Ted Lieu and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday, urging him to investigate Supreme Court Justices, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch.
Liu and AOC wrote that the two justices “lied to the American people” about their views on Roe v. Wade during their confirmation hearings to sit on the Supreme Court.
Our Constitutional Republic cannot tolerate Supreme Court Justices who lied in order to get confirmed. The legitimacy of the Court is at stake.
Letter from @AOC and me requesting the Senate to make a finding on whether Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch lied to the American people. pic.twitter.com/snQQf2cVKm
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 11, 2022
The pair wrote that they were writing because the legitimacy of the US Supreme Court “is at stake.”
Multiple Supreme Court Justices misled the American people during their confirmation hearings about their views on Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. At least two of them, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, directly lied to Senators.
They write that they respect the judges’ view on constitutional issues, but that Justices should not be able to lie on their views to get confirmed.
“We respect the right of individual Justices to have their own views on various constitutional issues. But we cannot have a system where Justices lie about their views in order to get confirmed. That makes a mockery of the confirmation power, and of the separation of powers. We respectfully request the Senate issue a finding – through a resolution or another kind of public statement – on whether these Justices lied under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee,” they wrote.
“The majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization makes several strong, sweeping statements about Roe and Casey. Justice Samuel Alito authored the opinion, joined by Justices Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Clarence Thomas,” they continue. ‘The majority opinion asserts that Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start.” The opinion also states that “Roe and Casey represent an error that cannot be allowed to stand.””
They then cite examples of when Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said that Roe was based on precedent.
“As nominees during their confirmation hearings, the Justices did not tell the American people, or the Unites States Senate that Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start” or that “Roe and Casey represent an error that cannot be allowed to stand.” In fact, they expressed the exact opposite position. While several Justices made misleading statements during their confirmation hearings, two examples are particularly egregious:
Justice Gorsuch (2017): “I would tell you that Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court. It has been reaffirmed. A good judge will consider it as precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court worthy as treatment of precedent like any other.” He also stated he would have “walked out the door” if the former President had asked him to overturn Roe.
Justice Kavanaugh (2018): “It is settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court, entitled the respect under principles of stare decisis. The Supreme Court has recognized the right to abortion since the 1973 Roe v. Wade case. It has reaffirmed it many times.” He also stated “It is not as if it is just a run of the mill case that was decided and never been reconsidered, but Casey specifically reconsidered it, applied the stare decisis factors, and decided to reaffirm it. That makes Casey a precedent on precedent.”
The pair concluded by saying that the Senate should investigate, and warned of “a mendacious denigration of our fundamental rights and the rule of law” if Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are not held accountable for lying.
