- Chief Justice John Roberts is referring ethics complaints against new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh
- Statement on BrettKavanaugh.com
- Christine Blasey Ford Still Can't Return Home Due to Threats
- Democrats not giving up Kavanaugh battle "taking steps to obtain and release detailed documents and emails about the sexual assault allegations against him"
- Arizona Shelter Shut in Latest Case of Migrant Child Abuse
Roberts asks federal judges to handle Kavanaugh complaints
The Associated Press MARK SHERMAN Oct 10th 2018
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts is referring ethics complaints against new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to federal judges in Colorado and neighboring states.
The complaints deal with statements Kavanaugh made during his confirmation hearings. They were filed originally with Kavanaugh's old court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Roberts took no action on them while Kavanaugh's nomination was pending. He received the first three of 15 eventual complaints on Sept. 20, a week before Kavanaugh's angry denial of a sexual assault allegation by Christine Blasey Ford.
It's possible the complaints will never be investigated if the lower-court judges determine they have no jurisdiction over a Supreme Court justice under the judiciary's ethics rules. The judges may be forced to conclude "that intervening events have rendered the allegations moot or make remedial action impossible," said Arthur Hellman, an ethics professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Another ethicist, Stephen Gillers of New York University, disagreed that the complaints are moot. Kavanaugh remains a federal judge and the complaints "allege misconduct that occurred while Kavanaugh was on the D.C. Circuit and subject to the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges. Any violation of the Code does not disappear because he is now on another federal court," Gillers said in an email.
But Gillers said the complaints "may be found not to be meritorious in the end."....
Statement on BrettKavanaugh.com
October 9, 2018
Three years ago, I bought a handful of URLs that I thought might be useful in any forthcoming Supreme Court confirmation battles. Included were BrettKavanaugh.com, .org and .net.
Today I am redirecting those three to a landing page with resources for victims of sexual assault.
I believe Dr. Ford. I believe Prof. Hill. I also believe that asking for forgiveness is a sign of maturity and strength, not weakness.
Watching the White House ceremony last night and listening to the President again cast doubt on the veracity of Dr. Ford’s claims, while not hearing a word of contrition from the newest justice, was difficult for many Americans who have experienced sexual misconduct firsthand.
Christine Blasey Ford Still Can't Return Home Due to Threats
By Natasha Bach October 8, 2018
The book is closed on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. But while he has been confirmed to the highest court, the story isn’t over for his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.
Ford’s lawyers told NBC News on Sunday that Ford and her family have still been unable to return to their home due to the death threats she continues to face after testifying against Kavanaugh on Sep. 27.
“Her family has been through a lot,” Debra Katz said. “They are not living at home. It’s going to be quite some time before they’re able to live at home.”
“The threats have been unending,” she added, “It’s deplorable. It’s been very frightening.”
Ford had already alluded to these threats in her testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, telling the committee that she and her family had been living in “various secure locales” with security guards since Sept. 16. She said that she and her family had been subject to harassment and death threats, and that she had been “called the most vile and hateful names imaginable.”
“My greatest fears have been realized—and the reality has been far worse than what I expected,” she said.
Ford’s other attorney, Lisa Banks, told NBC that the government’s handling of Ford’s case was “far worse” than that of Anita Hill. With Hill, she said, “there was a full FBI investigation before there was ever a hearing.”
She added that Ford was “horrified” by Trump’s comments that sought to undermine her credibility. “She was upset by it, yes, as any woman would be who’s the victim of sexual assault and was mocked and belittled by anyone, never mind the president of the United States,” Banks said.
Democrats not giving up Kavanaugh battle
The conservative jurist is settling into a lifetime appointment, but Democratic leaders think they can still discredit him and GOP leaders
By JOSH GERSTEIN 10/10/2018
Democrats are showing no signs of backing off their battle against newly minted Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, pressing forward with legal fights to unearth potentially damaging records that didn’t go public during the white-hot nomination contest.
Democratic leaders are taking steps to obtain and release detailed documents and emails about the sexual assault allegations against him and disputed aspects of his service during the Bush administration.
While Democrats are strategizing to get what they consider the most potentially impactful records out soon, it’s all but certain that the process will drag on for years and perhaps even decades.
Many Democrats are skittish about talk of impeaching Kavanaugh, an effort that seems doomed in the Senate even if Democrats win control of the House in midterm elections next month. But there seems to be a broad consensus on the left to keep up the fight for documents lawmakers believe should have been made public before the vote on Trump’s second high court nominee.
Democratic lawmakers say it’s worth serving up a reminder of how Republicans tried to short-circuit the process and gave short shrift to Ford’s allegations.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi followed through Wednesday on a promised Freedom of Information Act request demanding records related to the background investigation the FBI reopened into Kavanaugh after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he sexually assaulted her during high school, a claim Kavanaugh categorically denied.
“The FBI’s supplemental background investigation appears to have been significantly limited in scope to ensure that a thorough investigation would not take place, numerous witnesses would not be questioned, and numerous questions would not be asked — including whether Justice Kavanaugh deliberately misled Congress on multiple subjects,” Pelosi wrote in her letter seeking documents about the FBI's interviews and the ground rules for the inquiry. “The public must know what limitations were imposed on the FBI and who imposed them, so this never happens again.”....
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/10/kavanaugh-faces-drip-drip-drip-on-records-892054
Arizona Shelter Shut in Latest Case of Migrant Child Abuse
By Associated Press
(PHOENIX) — Staff members at a Phoenix-area shelter for unaccompanied migrant children physically abused three children, leading to the closure of the shelter, federal officials said. It was the latest in a series of incidents of alleged abuse involving staff members at shelters and children.
Southwest Key’s Hacienda del Sol shelter was shut down last Friday, but federal officials did not reveal the reason behind the closure until Tuesday.
The Texas-based federal contractor has fired the staffers involved in the Sept. 18 incident, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement....
Arizona has seen numerous allegations of sexual abuse at its many shelters for immigrant children, including one made by the government of El Salvador, which said it received reports of three children, 12 to 17, who were sexually abused at unnamed shelters in Arizona.
Last month, a former youth care worker was convicted of sexually abusing seven teenage boys at a Phoenix-area shelter for immigrant children.
