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October 2, 2018

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley


Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein


Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate
152 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Re: Nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh for United States Supreme Court


Prior letter of August 27, 2018, from some members of Yale Law School Class of 1990

Dear Chairman Grassley and Senator Feinstein:

On August 27, 2018, a letter was transmitted to you in support of the confirmation of Judge Brett
M. Kavanaugh’s appointment to the United States Supreme Court. The letter was signed by twenty-
three classmates of Judge Kavanaugh’s at Yale Law School, including us. We identified ourselves as
a bipartisan group of supporters who have had our ideological difference over the years with Judge
Kavanaugh, but who nevertheless supported his confirmation. The letter relied on, among other
things, Judge Kavanaugh’s “exemplary judicial temperament.” It emphasized Judge Kavanaugh’s
lack of partisanship, his fair-mindedness and reasonableness, and his collegiality. And it emphasized
that the signatories also knew Judge Kavanaugh as a friend.

Since that letter was submitted, the Committee held a hearing on Thursday, September 27, 2018, in
which both Judge Kavanaugh and Professor Christine Blasey Ford testified. The allegations are
currently being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and we will not comment on
them here. However, having watched those hearings, it gives us no pleasure to advise you that we
must withdraw our support for that letter and Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

The reason for our withdrawal is not the truth or falsity of Dr. Ford’s allegations, which are still
being investigated, but rather was the nature of Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony. In our view that
testimony was partisan, and not judicious, and inconsistent with what we expect from a Justice of
the Supreme Court, particularly when dealing with a co-equal branch of government.

This is not a judgment on Brett Kavanaugh as a human being. It is, rather, a conclusion rooted in
what is institutionally required from a Supreme Court Justice. In our democracy, the legitimacy of
our Supreme Court arises from the confidence Americans have that it deliberates and decides cases
based not on partisanship, but based on principles. Judge Kavanaugh, earlier in the confirmation
process, observed that “the Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution.” He was
right.

Under the current circumstances, we fear that partisanship has injected itself into Judge Kavanaugh’s
candidacy. That, and the lack of judicial temperament displayed on September 27 hearing, cause us
to withdraw our support.
Thank you for allowing us to express our views.

Very truly yours,

MICHAEL J. PROCTOR MARK OSLER

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