October 6, 2018, New York – In response to the Senate’s confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) issued the following statement:

The Center for Constitutional Rights stands with survivors of sexual assault and all those who feel their dignity has been denied by the Senate’s confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Last Thursday’s Kavanaugh hearing displayed a stark and deeply unsettling chasm between TRUTH – a dignified, courageous, and agonizing telling of truth  – and POWER – entitled, raging, unabashed power. That day, Kavanaugh aggressively deployed power in an attempt to shout over, bury, and deny Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s truth. And, as of today, after an incomplete FBI investigation thwarted by the White House, 50 senators joined him in casting aside truth to ascend him to power. Brett Kavanaugh lied, bullied and taunted his way to his claimed entitlement – as a white, elite man – to one of the most authoritative and consequential positions in our government. The result will have damning consequences for women, people of color, and all marginalized people. 

In the deeply pained and resonant words of our ally, Ana Maria Archila, spoken as she courageously confronted Senator Jeff Flake, a Supreme Court justice is supposed to “recognize harm, take responsibility for it and work to repair the harm.” To be sure, future Justice Kavanaugh will do no such thing; he has been reared to uphold power, not truth – with corporations, with the church, with the presidency, and with the police. 

The continued ascendancy of such power to the Supreme Court is jarring, and its repercussions will be numerous. But, at CCR, we know that the people more than the courts are the lasting vehicle for social change. As we have observed in legal struggle after struggle, the truth of survivors’ stories, of communities’ stories, and women’s stories will always outlast a court ruling or an opinion from a Supreme Court justice. And so we thank Anita Hill, Christine Blasey Ford, Ana Maria Archila, and hundreds of survivors who have confronted the most powerful men and institutions, and flooded the streets and the halls of the Senate in protest. The innumerable ways they have spoken truth to power endures far beyond this horrific confirmation process and the dangerous tenure of Brett Kavanaugh on the Court.