I write in response to Seth Newkirk’s recent column, “Where’s the Evidence?”, a remarkable act of bad faith in the service of a man who does not need our protection.
The premise of this piece is that the evidentiary standards of a criminal trial must be applied to Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings because those hearings have come to resemble a criminal trial. But of course, the hearings have been made to resemble a criminal trial by those who wish to see those evidentiary standards applied; erecting the façade of a criminal trial is not the same as holding one. Were Kavanaugh in fact to be charged with perjury or indicted for sexual assault, the distinction between a criminal proceeding and a confirmation hearing would surely become clear.
Newkirk kindly avers that he has personally known women who have suffered assaults only to have the accuser deny everything. The question before the public right now is what can be done for these victims, not for the wealthy and powerful public figures who stand accused. It is Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and others like her, who have faced the real and lasting consequences of these heinous acts, not accused perpetrators like Brett Kavanaugh.
Newkirk repeatedly alludes to the “justice system,” but Kavanaugh is not currently under the auspices of the justice system. Rather, he stands ready to receive a lifetime appointment to the body that oversees it. Should this appointment be confirmed, we will then have occasion to use the word “crime.”
Peter Raleigh
Ph.D. student
History
