Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh dodged a wide variety of questions during his Senate confirmation hearing, invoking the classic “I don’t answer hypothetical questions” line or that he couldn’t talk about pending cases.
That’s why one had to chuckle when Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) asked him about a case more than a century old. This one involved the constitutionality of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Watch this four minute video to look at how Kavanugh refused to answer almost any question from Harris, including the one about the Chinese Exclusion Act.
“In the 1889 Chinese Exclusion case, the Supreme Court permitted a ban on Chinese people entering the United States. The court said Chinese people are quote impossible to assimilate with our people unquote and said they were immigrating in numbers quote approaching an invasion. This case has never been explicitly overruled. Can you tell me was the United States Supreme Court correct in holding that Chinese people could be banned from entering our country,” Harris asked.
Kavanaugh acknowledged the ruling reflected discriminatory attitudes of the times. It was a simple yes or no answer, yet Kavanaugh could not answer it.
“Senator, I don’t want to opine on this particular case without looking at it or studying the discrimination.”
For most people, whether discrimination is good is cut and dry.
Apparently not for everyone.
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