• Home
  • Archive
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
  • March 24, 2023

The Madison Times

The Paper That's More Than Black and White

  • News
    • Local News
    • National News
    • International News
    • Sports News
    • Education News
  • Columns
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Life Lessons with Alex Gee
  • Events
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Lifestyle
  • Classifieds
  • Community
    • Middle Spread
  • Milwaukee
EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED, THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MADISON TIMES

Make No Mistake, This Is Wrong

September 22, 2018

Legislatively Speaking

By Senator, Lena C. Taylor

Senate Judiciary Committee Unfair to Blasey Ford

Lena C. Taylor

If you are like most folks, you are watching the Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination process play out. You may be struggling with recent information that has been introduced into the fray regarding allegations of a sexual assault that has been leveled at Kavanaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Ford claims that while at a party, Donald Trump’s nominee to the nation’s highest court, pushed her into a bedroom, attempted to forcibly remove her clothes and covered her to mute her screams. This is alleged to have taken place over 30 years ago, while they were both in high school.

Fast forward to 2018. From the beginning, U.S. Senate Republicans have made it clear that they wanted to confirm Trump’s pick by Oct. 1. This date is significant for a couple of reasons to include it signals the start of the new term for the Supreme Court and it’s also ahead of the November 6th election.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sidestepped one norm after another to rush the Kavanaugh vote.

Grassley ignored the usual vetting process that includes allowing the National Archives and Records Administration time to produce documents relating to Supreme Court nominees, which in this case, was more than one million documents or dumping the of roughly 42,000 documents hours before hearings on Kavanaugh’s nomination were scheduled to start.

And in terms of the allegations of sexual assault that have been advanced, Grassley, Trump and their Republican colleagues are dead wrong in their handling of Ford and her claims. To be clear, Grassley and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) should know better because they have been here before. In 1991, when then U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had allegations made against him by Anita Hill, Grassley and Hatch were both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee then.

At the time of Hill’s assertions, the committee had already taken two separate votes on Thomas’ nomination. After Hill came forward, the Judiciary committee informed the White House and the White House directed the FBI to investigate Hill’s claims. Dr. Ford has made a request for similar treatment of her claims in asking that the FBI re-open their background investigation of Kavanaugh before she agrees to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley and Trump have refused her request.

Grassley’s decision to place arbitrary deadlines on Ford’s window to offer testimony and fabricated statements about the role of the FBI’s ability to investigate Ford’s claim are a miscarriage of justice and an insult to both women and the process. As a member of Wisconsin’s Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, I take my responsibilities seriously. It is a shame that the same can’t be said for my colleagues at the federal level.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Legislatively Speaking, Lena Taylor

Read More - Related Articles

  • Check Yo’ Self, Before You Wreck Yo’ Self
  • Women Anywhere Equals Equity Everywhere
  • A Bill to Teach Children, Before They Become Adults, How to Interact with the Police……. Really?
  • In Every Facet of the Capitol, Representation Matters
  • I Will Always Lift Every Voice and Sing





Connect With Us

Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On Twitter
Follow Us On Twitter

Editorials

Karma Chavez
Amanda Zhang
Julianne Malveaux
Benjamin Chavis
George Curry

Journalists

Jacklin Bolduan
Brianna Rae
Aarushi Agni
Rob Franklin
Claire Miller

Topics

Brown Girl Green $
Young Gifted & Black
Universally Speaking
Ask Progress
Civil Rights

Topics

Police Shooting
Police Brutality
Black Lives Matter
NAACP
Racism

Politicians

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Gwen Moore
Paul Soglin
Scott Walker

Contact Us

The Madison Times
313 West Beltline Hwy
Suite 132
Madison, WI 53713
608-270-9470

Copyright © 2023 Courier Communications. All Rights Reserved.
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.