Maddy Monty

Kavanaugh vs Ford
10/22/2018
Verona Area High School

I have always, very strongly, been on the victims' side for the #Meto movement. That being
said throughout researching and reading up on the Kavanaugh vs Ford case I kept an open mind,
read both sides of the story and looked from all points of view. For this paper, I will step into the
shoes of the judge and create my own opinions surrounding the topic to come to a conclusion.
To start off, this case was not to get Kavanaugh incarcerated or charged, they held this hearing
as more of a job interview for supreme court justice, to see if they really want him on a lifelong
position. Which brings us to, how did all of this start in the first place? It all started when Dr.
Christine Ford sent a confidential letter to a senior Democratic lawmaker after it was brought to
her attention that Brett Kavanaugh had been recommended to be supreme court justice by
Donald Trump. She wanted to remain anonymous and just inform the committee of his past, she
felt it was her “civic duty” to tell her story. From there the letter remain confidential from July
30th to September 13th, and on the 11th hour on the eve before Kavanaugh's confirmation vote
the ranking member referred the allegations to the FBI, then from there, these allegations and the
letter got leaked to the press.
While awaiting the hearing Dr. Ford and Kavanaugh both received several threats and
gruesome notes which made them fear for the safety of themselves and their families. They still
continue to receive this hate even though the hearing has already happened. During the hearing,
it started off with Dr. Ford voicing her testimony in front of the court. It was 1982, she went to a
get together at a friends house, there were no parents so there was alcohol present and the kids
were drinking. She went to go to the restroom upstairs and while she was walking down the hall
to the doorway Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge pulled her into one of the bedrooms. While
they pulled her in they turned on music in the room so no one could hear here. Kavanaugh began
to “grind and inappropriately dance” on Ford. He then continued to push her onto the bed and
get on top of her, as she tried to scream Mark Judge turned the music up and Kavanaugh covered
her mouth. She eventually broke lose without him doing more. She proceeded to leave and run
home after that.
Now Kavanaugh, throughout his testimony, repeatedly brought up that he was on the football
team and he didn’t drink until he was incoherent. He continued to also go into detail about his
family and daughter and their take on Dr. Ford, saying that these allegations have “totally and
permanently destroyed” his life. He goes on to defend himself and claims that the allegations Dr.
Ford projected onto him are lies. While he is also on the stand he directed a lot of anger towards
the panels democrats. One key part in the hearing is that since 1993 Brett Kavanaugh has had 6
background checks which came up as clean.
 After reading the entire hearing I would say my stance is still the same. While reading many
people spoke out about Kavanaugh discrediting him. James Roche, Kavanaugh's freshman
roommate at Yale stated Kavanaugh was “frequently incoherently drunk” and that he became
“aggressive and belligerent”. There were also two more women who came forward with
allegations. Debbie Ramirez, a student at Yale, who was attending a party were Kavanaugh
exposed himself to her, she shoved him away with disgust and he started to laugh. June
Swetnick stated seeing him at parties groping and dancing upon women inappropriately, and
would continuously target intoxicated women. Each of these allegations should be investigated
by the FBI, both of these women said they would like an investigation, they also said they have
evidence and witnesses to corroborate their accounts and yet they still continue to push forward
with Kavanaugh being pushed up to the Supreme Court. Then comes into question, why did they
wait so long? Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network confirms that “when survivors do report
their assaults it is often years later due to the trauma they suffered and fearing that their story will
not be believed. Unfortunately, 60% of rapes go unreported. Rachel Mitchell states, “sexual
violence is a serious problem and one that largely goes unseen. 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men
will fall victim to some sort of sexual violence in their lifetime.”
In conclusion, I believe that Brett Kavanaugh is not fit to be a supreme court justice. On the
floor, he was acting out of line and too emotional. He continuously would get angry with the
panel. A lot of people truly believe he did not do it. They claim if he doesn't remember that
night that it didn't happen, but the difference between Kavanaugh and Ford is that it had no
emotional significance to Kavanaugh. Dr. Ford even explained that “this has been scared into
my memory and has haunted me episodically as an adult”. Today men and women are
traumatized to report their abuse because if and when they do report it, they will be criticized and
put to trial instead of being helped and cared for as the victim. Evidently, Brett Kavanaugh
should not be appointed to the lifelong position of supreme court justice, from just seeing
snippets of the hearing and reading through the entire transcript I wholeheartedly believe he will
not do just.