Justice Brett Kavanaugh said it’s a “coincidence” the Supreme Court has had a slow start on issuing opinions following a contentious 2022 marked by a historic security breach, an assassination attempt, and the overturning of nearly 50 years of abortion access precedent.
“I am confident they’ll all be out by the end of June. So I don’t think anyone needs to worry. … It’s just a coincidence of which mix of cases were in October and November,” Kavanaugh said Monday, the same day the court released two opinions, marking the first time in decades the justices waited more than 100 days to release its first opinions.
The Republican-appointed justice was speaking during an appearance at the University of Notre Dame’s law school, where he also praised the three liberal members on the bench, including newcomer Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman on the high court who was nominated by President Joe Biden last year to succeed then-Justice Stephen Breyer.
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“She is fully prepared — thoroughly prepared,” Kavanaugh said of Jackson, adding that such preparation is “the No. 1 thing” that “makes a good judge.” The pair of justices sit next to each other during oral arguments, and Kavanaugh said Jackson “hit the ground running” when she joined the court around mid-2022, while also praising Breyer as an “always friendly” and “amazing colleague.”
Jackson has received special attention from court observers not only due to her first term on the bench but for her record number of minutes spoken during oral arguments in early October compared to two previous newcomers.
Kavanaugh also brushed off analysis and characterizations of any tension between the nine justices, saying: “We only get tough cases, and we disagree on some of those. … But we work well together, and we get along well together.”
Notably, Kavanaugh did not make any mention of the leaked draft opinion from May that signaled the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which also prompted an agitated California man to travel thousands of miles to his house last summer who had allegedly planned to assassinate Kavanaugh with an arsenal of weapons, including a firearm. The justice, who was one of five who voted to overturn Roe, only suggested that 2021-22 was a “difficult year at the court.”
There was also no mention from Kavanaugh about a recent documentary that examines the alleged sexual misconduct against him that surfaced during his 2018 confirmation hearing. Kavanaugh denied those allegations repeatedly during his hearing.
However, the justice did use some of his time at Notre Dame to bash U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings. The publication said earlier this month that it would change the function used to determine its list of best law schools after several prestigious schools, including Kavanaugh’s alma mater Yale Law School, decided to remove themselves from the notorious rankings.
The changes to the ranking system included placing more impetus on bar exam pass rates and employment outcomes with less focus on surveys that ask lawyers, judges, and academic leaders to rate the quality of institutions.
“I think those ratings are very problematic. I think they’re based on things, from what I understand, that are very amorphous, very subjective, very word-of-mouth factors that don’t correlate well with the education that you’re actually receiving,” Kavanaugh said.
When asked if he would take insight from the publication’s rankings when he looks at finding new law clerks, the justice responded: “No.”
Kavanaugh also expressed confidence in the fortitude of the federal judiciary, saying he believes judges haven’t been afraid to do what’s right despite public criticism. Still, he said he thinks it’s important to think about the 330 million people in the country with varying viewpoints and a need to understand their perspectives.
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His appearance at Notre Dame on Monday was made public Thursday, when the university published a summary of a one-hour conversation with Dean G. Marcus Cole.
The high court is on a break as justices prepare to return to the bench at the end of February to hear major arguments over President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation program, two Big Tech cases, and another dispute about the pandemic-era immigration program known as Title 42.
