Addressing the Pro-Kavanaugh Confusion About “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”

I have engaged in several frustrating online conversations recently where conservatives have emphatically insisted that Brett Kavanaugh’s “right” to be judged innocent until proven guilty is being trampled on by recent events at the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Let’s think about this accusation slowly and logically for a moment, setting  the hyperventilating aside.  We will take one step at a time:

1. Yes, people who are charged with a crime in this country have the right to be considered “innocent until proven guilty.” This is a fundamental principle

   

   of American jurisprudence. And THAT is the realm of its proper application – at trial in the courtroom.  Consequently, the prosecution bears the burden of proof, not the defense.  The prosecutor must persuade a jury that the accused is “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

2. The issue that conservatives and Republicans are now protesting is very different.  They are concerned with the habit of putting people accused of crimes on trial in the “court of public opinion.” That is a very long-standing problem in American public life with a history long ante-dating the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
   1. This unfortunate problem has intensified with the rise of mass media, particularly in early newspapers. By far, the leading contemporary culprit in this regard was Nancy Grace, host of a TV show by the same name on the HLN network.  Grace consistently insisted on the guilt of every person accused of a crime, long before any trial began.  Worse yet, she never apologized or admitted her errors when those falsely accused

      

      were finally proven innocent.  I suggest that any and all conservative fans of Nancy Grace now defending Brett Kavanaugh publicly denounce Nancy Grace and the HLN network with the same vigor they apply to lamenting the Judiciary Committee’s current “injustice.”
3. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is not a court of law. What may be happening in public opinion and what is happening in those Senate hearings are two completely different things.  No one’s legal rights are being violated, one way or the other.  There certainly are important concerns about kindness, honesty, humanity, consideration, and prejudice.  But none of those issues touches on anyone’s legal standing or their status as innocent until proven guilty when testifying before the Senate Committee.
4. Therefore, all those folks yelling and screaming about the violation of Kavanaugh’s “legal rights” are no different from the elderly card player who jumped up and yelled “gin rummy, gin rummy” in the middle of a poker game. It grabs attention, but it is not relevant.  It’s the wrong concern in the wrong setting.
5. As a matter of fact, complaining about Kavanaugh’s rights is a wonderful (and sadly effective) distraction from the real matters at hand. Frankly, I suspect that the closeted authors of Republican talking-points – which we know are distributed immediately to Fox News anchors – landed on this particular protest strategy for this very reason.  It is a distraction that diverts public attention from the real issues.
6. Not only is this misapplication of legal language a distraction, it also serves as a roundabout way of minimizing, to the point of eventually dismissing, Christine Ford’s story of sexual assault. It’s as if the Senate Committee were a court of law, and Kavanaugh’s lawyer (that is, all of his Republican advocates) were standing on their feet yelling, “I object! I object!” in the middle of Dr. Ford’s testimony.
7. In this way, Dr. Ford’s words are drowned out by the cleverly manipulative tactics of an illegitimate “opposing counsel,” with the ridiculousness only appearing when sensible people recall that this is not a trial; we are not in court.  A huge, collective hand is being forced over Dr. Ford’s mouth, stifling her attempts to speak.  The alleged rape victim is being shouted down once again, this time with words that sound ever-so official, professional, informed, compelling, reasonable, irrefutable – but it is a sham.  It is ignorant.  It is manipulative.  It is nothing other than a strong-arm attempt (ever so sincerely) to tell another woman to sit down and shut up.  These people are the modern-day equivalents of snake oil salesmen, dressed up to look like doctors, spoutin’ highfalutin, medical jargon that adds up to the fatuous equivalent of chewing tobacco prescribed for brain cancer.
8. Of course, none of these ill-legal analysts have an answer for what other options Christian Ford might have taken. She contacted her local congresswoman and conveyed her story long before Kavanaugh was even nominated, while he was still only a new name on the short-list, in fact.  Yes, she asked to remain anonymous, but what the congresswoman, or later, Senator Feinstein, did with her complaint was beyond her control.  So, now we should tell her that she has no business telling her story because the powers-that-be waited till they did to release her story to the press?
9. Yes, it would have been better had the news of her story been circulated earlier than it was. Better yet, it would have been wonderful had the Senate Committee asked the FBI to investigate her charges immediately.  But, for whatever reasons, those things did not happen.  So, now she should not have the opportunity to speak out because the timing is inconvenient for the Republican, public relations machine?
10. Both Republicans and Democrats must share the blame for the messiness surrounding these Committee hearings, but anyone who has followed the timeline carefully can only conclude that the lion’s share of the circus atmosphere is due to Republican power-mongering.
    1. The Republicans have done everything possible to conclude Kavanaugh’s appointment before the midterm elections. Mitch McConnell has stated openly that his proudest moment as Senate majority leader was the derailment of president Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland.  Now is his long-awaited opportunity to conclude that intensely partisan reappointment process with another conservative judge.
    2. This is why McConnell initially urged Trump NOT to nominate Kavanaugh in the first place.  McConnell complained to Trump that, with the Kavanaugh’s long history in Republican politics, his paper trail was so incredibly voluminous that the Committee would never be able to digest all the documentation and complete the confirmation process before the upcoming midterms.  But Trump nominated Kavanaugh anyway.
    3. Consequently, the Republicans have done everything possible to cram this nominee through to a final Senate vote as quickly as possible, regardless of the manipulation or dishonesty required to do it. These hearings have been sabotaged from the outset by an unreasonably short time-frame, controlled by Republicans who would not allow any new or unexpected information to be submitted, no matter how important it might be.
    4. Thus, if Kavanaugh and the Republicans look like petulant little kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar, they have no one to blame but themselves. The sole desire of Senators Grassley, Graham, Hatch, Cornyn and Cruz has been to get another conservative Republican on the Supreme Court bench by hook or by crook before they (conceivably) lose their Senate majority.  Damn the truth; damn fair-play; damn an honest hearing process; damn the torpedoes; full steam ahead!
11. The result has been, damn Christine Blasey Ford; Kavanaugh is innocent until proven guilty!

Author: David Crump

Author, Speaker, Retired Biblical Studies & Theology Professor & Pastor, Passionate Falconer, H-D Chopper Rider, Fumbling Disciple Who Loves Jesus Christ View all posts by David Crump