Opinion Graphic
The Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh has brought the #MeToo movement front and center yet again. Judge Kavanaugh has now been accused of three illicit sexual acts all of varying degrees of severity.
On Sept. 12, Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at the Palo Alto University in California, accused Kavanaugh of groping her and attempting to rape her at a party in 1982. About a week later, Deborah Ramirez, a former college classmate of Kavanaugh’s accused him of sexual misconduct that occurred at a party at Yale during his freshman year. Now Julie Swetnick, a federal government contractor, has accused Kavanaugh of aiding and abetting in the gang rape of girls at parties during the 1980s.
These allegations, while all grotesque and which ought to sink the nomination if true, also have one more thing in common: so far no one has corroborated the events that Kavanaugh is accused of.
Each case as previously stated is horrifying and reveals a brutal culture of rape and a multitude of other despicable crimes, but Brett Kavanaugh may be guilty of absolutely none of it. Every single charge brought against the judge has resulted in more calls from Democratic senators that his nomination be withdrawn, but damning evidence has yet to be presented.
In the case of Ford, every individual who she has said attended the party have refuted the allegations under penalty of imprisonment. The only evidence she has managed to submit are the notes from a therapy session, and the results of a polygraph test which asked only the most basic of questions.
Ramirez’s charge is also rather weak, with no one saying that they remember attending the event. One individual attested to hearing about the incident shortly afterward, but they were not actually present at the party.
Swetnick’s allegations are far and away the most horrifying, but also the least well supported. She has not so far named anyone who can corroborate her story, and no one but Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge are named in her affidavit about a culture of gang rape at Georgetown Prep.
While it is notable that those two individuals are named, a culture of gang rape would surely contain more than just two individuals, especially when Ms. Swetnick describes in her sworn affidavit that multiple boys were “waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl inside the room.”
These women should all get the chance to testify, but Kavanaugh should also be given the chance to defend himself before decisions are made by either the Republican or Democratic senators. Instead, both parties are left at two different ends of the spectrum.
On one side there are Republicans that do not find the allegations credible and would like to see Kavanaugh confirmed without necessarily hearing the claims of the accusers, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, or individuals who are pushing for his nomination to be withdrawn such as Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono. Both sides have set a dangerous precedent that threatens to either ignore the progress that the #MeToo movement has made, or ruin the movement entirely.
In the age of #MeToo, there has been a transition to the idea that all women when coming forward with sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape and other charges of sexual misconduct charges should be believed. While false accusations are indeed rare, that does not excuse the character assassination of someone whose crimes have yet to be proven.
The American population seems hell-bent on righting the wrongs of the past, yet this mentality only results in more injustice. This convoluted sense of justice has the potential to ruin more lives than it saves. An immediate acceptance of allegations can permanently damage the accused who could be innocent. While due process is never required in the court of public opinion, it should still be exercised, especially in cases such as these, where the stakes are incredibly high.
Brett Kavanaugh may play a role in ruling on important Supreme Court decisions that Democrats may not agree with, but that does not mean he is a serial sex offender. Until hard evidence is produced, it is in the best interest of public discourse and the #MeToo movement to not smear the character of anyone until sufficient evidence is brought forward in the presence of the Senate.