The Supreme Court judge is one of the highest ranking positions in the United States; a job that is so essential that not only does the president choose this person, the Senate must confirm them as well. This position is for life. Brett Kavanaugh, an American attorney, Yale law school graduate, former law clerk, and former White House staff secretary to President George W. Bush, seems like the perfect candidate on paper.
However, there is one HUGE problem: Kavanaugh was accused of rape and indecent exposure. It is alleged that he participated in the gangrape of his former classmate at Yale University.
Instead of there being a full investigation of these accusations, they are immediately deemed false. The victim is ridiculed not only by the public but the PRESIDENT as well. The President went as far as to mock the accuser’s lawyer by saying she is ” a third-rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations.” A Fox News contributor also went on Twitter to call the accusers “lying skanks“.
This is not the first time that women who have spoken up about sexual assault have been ridiculed and called liars. According to a CNN article, the story of Anita Hill goes as follows: On July 1 of 1991, President George H. W Bush nominated, now, supreme court judge Clarence Thomas to replace Justice Thurgood Marshall. A few months later, Anita Hill, a coworker of Judge Clarence Thomas, was approached about giving some background information on the current supreme court judge. It was then that she reported the actions of Judge Thomas. It wasn’t until late September that she was told that she could have the FBI investigate the situation. The FBI only took three days to investigate, only to deem the allegations as “baseless”. Clarence Thomas was sworn in as a supreme court judge and is still a judge. To this day, many people ridicule Anita Hill because of her allegations, calling her crazy and obsessive.
These two events have a 27-year time difference, yet the outcomes and actions during these two incidents are the same: both victims were disregarded and ridiculed. The accused still have positions in power and are even Supreme Court judges. When it comes to men in power, allegations such as these will not hinder their rise. They will only affect those who have made the claims and who are not in a position of strength in society. Events such as these not only set back our society as a whole, but it also allows rape culture to become more prevalent. Rape culture has allowed people such as Kavanaugh, Thomas, Trump, Roy Moore, and many other high profile members of society to get away with sexual misconduct. Why do we let people with these track records move up in society so easily, to the point where the majority of us have become desensitized to it? People in power need to be held accountable for their actions.
WE have to take action. The public cannot wait until it is too late and complain and protest when we know there are more effective ways that we can make a difference. Be an active citizen; pay attention to the small things in our government – they matter the most; and never think that your small actions don’t count, because they do.
-Kherty Leger