The City of West Hollywood has issued a statement condemning the U.S. Senate’s decision on Saturday to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Brett Kavanaugh’s display of rage and belligerence at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings proves that he does not have the temperament to be a judge — much less on the Supreme Court,” said Mayor John Duran, who is a lawyer. “It is abhorrent to think we are placing our future, our equality, and our liberty in the hands of a drunken frat boy who sexually assaulted a teenage girl while his friend Mark Judge stood by and laughed. This is a sad moment in the history of our nation.”
“The Senate and all of America deserved a better choice than Brett Kavanaugh,” said Councilmember John D’Amico. “There is more work for all of us to do.”
The nomination of Judge Kavanaugh first raised concerns among progressive organizations because of his embrace of the conservative legal movement. Judge Kavanaugh received the approval of the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, two groups that champion overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. In August 2018, the West Hollywood City Council adopted a resolution to oppose the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh and urged the Senate to reject the nomination.
“Judge Kavanaugh has not demonstrated the impartiality we should expect from nominees for the Supreme Court. But of course that’s exactly why he was nominated and he is being confirmed,” said Councilmember John Heilman. “The president and his allies in the Senate don’t believe in an independent and impartial judiciary. They want someone who will support their assault on civil rights. This is a dark day for our democracy.”
“Today marks another shameful moment in American history,” said Councilmember Lindsey Horvath. “The Senate has acted against the protection of victims of sexual assault — and against the provisions of the Violence Against Women Act — and has confirmed a violator of women’s safety and trust to the highest court in the land. Blaming and shaming victims is not justice. Appointing Kavanaugh is not justice. With this appointment, women are clearly and deliberately under attack in this country. I am grateful for the leadership of Senators Feinstein and Harris. I commend Senators Heitkamp and Murkowski for their courage and conviction — both face daunting consequences for their selfless votes.”
“It is outrageous that, through the hearing process, the Senate Judiciary Committee placed politics ahead of the American people,” said Councilmember Lauren Meister. “The Senate vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is deeply disappointing. The process warranted a full and thorough FBI investigation. Instead, what we received was a week for the FBI to prepare a short report based on a few interviews. This is a lifetime appointment to the most powerful court in the land. This appointment will have lasting negative consequences for our judicial system and for our democracy.”
The West Hollywood City Council, a majority of whose voters are registered as Democrats, is known for taking liberal or progressive positions on national political issues involving the rights of LGBT people, immigrants, women and others. It was the first city in the nation to declare itself pro-choice and it has continually supported state and federal legislation protecting and advancing women’s reproductive rights and access to healthcare.
When are these people going to spend time solving West Hollywood’s issues like crime, traffic, homelessness, housing and quality of life instead of wasting our taxpayer time on partisan politics.
They sit next to creepy John Duran and talk down to people from their far Left high horses.
Grow up!
I agree! You don’t speak for me “City of West Hollywood.” If anything, you’re a very immature city in the political sense. Like a bunch of kids screaming for attention. Now back to cleaning the dirty streets! Focus people. Oh, I know, that’s difficult for adult children.
Gee – W. Hollywood is so crime-ridden and dirty – I feel like I am in the S. Bronx when I step outside my condo door! Leftist politics have always been a mainstay in W. Ho and what the city is all about. If you are a right wing person move to Pacific Palisades
A great deal of “partisan politics” has a very significant relevance to “West Hollywood’s issues like crime, traffic, homelessness, housing and, quality of life.” Local and State government in most of small town Middle America spends most of their time arguing in opposition to LGBTQ, Women’s and, minority rights. But this doesn’t seem to bother you much now does it? Imagine Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Maria Sotomayor and, Elena Kagan having to be around much less having to “sit next to” Brett Kavanaugh; that really is creepy! The City Council of West Hollywood including the Mayor John Duran are all… Read more »
To condemn people and issues is pointless without dissecting the the flawed process of examining a possibly flawed nominee. Many reasonable and logical steps that might have been illuminating were simply not considered. Not one person in the Senate would have approved of the process had they been the one under consideration as a candidate for high office let alone the Supreme Court. The shame is on everyone that didn’t take the high ground to investigate, connect the dots and allow information to speak for itself in what our judicial system presumes to be an impartial process. Although Brett Kavanaugh… Read more »
Please examine Judge Kavanaugh’s previous reviews. While not finding fault with decisions they do repeatedly comment on temperament. Taint as referred to does not mean guilt or innocence it refers to unexamined. If one is looking at a basket of rotting fruit containing apples and oranges and only evaluates the oranges it is incomplete. If this had been a criminal investigation, including the possibility of making false and/or misleading statements to the FBI there would have been more information to evaluate. The directive to the FBI was considerably narrow in this case and rather than be guided by common sense… Read more »
While I agree with the city regarding Kavanaugh I don’t think it’s very Democratic for the “city” to have an opinion. Remember when they decided for everyone that Trump shouldn’t be allowed to campaign in West Hollywood. Now we are stuck with Trump without him hearing the opposition in person. Maybe they should stick to running the municipality. Who cares what Duran thinks on this issue. It’s seams a bit hypocritical considering his history. Maybe he thinks he didn’t do anything wrong.
There are no criticisms of Kavanaugh’s JUDICIAL temperament, but when he is being accused of gang rape, among other crimes, who wouldn’t be enraged in defending his honor and proclaiming his innocence? If those charges were true, forget the Supreme Court, he could never work again anywhere.
There was ABSOLUTELY NO corroborating evidence to support any of the charges against him, but lots of evidence to believe the women were lying.
I love living in West Hollywood, but the city council here is a constant source of embarrassment for me.
there is a lot of evidence that he lied on the stand , and his behaviour speaks for itself. He is unfit for the job.
cody warlock, I watched every minute of Dr. Ford’s testimony and every minute of Kavanaugh’s testimony. I then read and listened to quite a lot of commentary. There is NO evidence that he lied, and quite a lot of evidence that she did. I have had two separate accusations of this sort made against me. In the first it was proven that the women lied, and they tearfully admitted it. But I nearly lost my job at the beginning of my career, and I’d never have gotten another one in my field. The second time this happened there was electronic… Read more »
OK blueeyedboy I posted a good sized comment heavily cited with hyperlinks to some very credible and objective sources on the FACT that YES Brett Kavanaugh did lie and is completely unfit to sit on the Court. Many times with the hyperlinks the articles get thrown into spam by the system so hopefully the WEHOville can retrieve the article and post it. But I would like to address your serious issues (they are NOT yours alone) which I feel are at the root of the undeserved and unconditional support of Kavanaugh and people like him. First off it is ethically… Read more »
JF
Preach! always like that. Anyway, TLDR !!!
Pleased to be setting a good example for all of you! 🙂
A true justice would have remained stoic and answered the questions without emotion. Don’t make excuses for him. He will be deciding the country’s fate, and he has shown that he is a blowhard like the buffoon that nominated him. Bye Felicia 👋
How do you know so much about what a true justice would do, people spoke?
I’ve been where Kavanaugh has been (read my response to cody warlock), and, believe me, you don’t calmly defend yourself. You fight like hell! If he had quietly, unemotionally stated his case, I suspect that people like you would have said, “How could he not be in a rage? He must be guilty!” Remember Bill Clinton’s deposition? He was both calm ……. and as guilty as hell!
Folks who live in glass houses like Mayor John Duran shouldn’t throw stones regarding the Ford vs. Kavanaugh matter. For openers, Duran should definitely recuse himself regarding any comments in connection with sexual harassment claims. The Mayor caused the City of West Hollywood to pay out $500,000 in connection with sexual harassment claims by is a former assistant, Ian Owens, who Duran had met on Grinder. There were also charges against Duran of making sexually provocative comments to other City Hall employees derogatory comments about women. Plus, Duran, a criminal lawyer, can’t seem to run his own law business without… Read more »
Let’s not forget the “display of rage and belligerence” directed at a female candidate for office a few years ago.
Exactly. Duran of all people…throwing a stone…He’s such a mess both in his private life and his political one.
Why is our Council so arrogant to believe that DC cares about what they think? Pretty sure they know without telling them. Don’t we have stuff in our own back yard to clean up? Give me a break.
This is something upon which our Councilpersons can agree, as can all lovers of Liberty and Justice.
I agree with the sentiments, and I can express them myself without the need for pontificating hypocrisy by the WeHo Student Council. Meanwhile, West Hollywood is dirty, and not in the good way. Public spaces are filthy, but by golly, we sure do feel good about the official condemnations that continue to spew from City Hall.
While I also concur Kavanaugh should not be on the court, keep it local and remove Duran from the council. That is something within their control.
He was voted in get over it.
….. and Kavanaugh was lawfully nominated and confirmed.
Get over it!
Show me where I said anything about Kavanaugh’s appoitnment, but I will now. He was an emotional baby at the hearing and for that he should be unqualified for the highest court in the land.
How about you council members focus on the city right in front of you? A good start would be getting rid of sexual harassers amongst yourselves.
Wow, really? The FBI cleared him and no accusers with any corroboration.
Senator Kamala Harris acutely questioned FBI Wray regarding the narrow scope of the inquiry. One could reasonably conclude that the FBI was hamstrung given the nature of the request. Must was not asked or answered. Time will reveal it.
Multiple FBI investigations and no credible accusers. : Innocent until proven guilty”. Remember that ???