More rats jumping ship! #WalkAway
Supreme Court Justice leaves GOP over Kavanaugh confirmation!
The chief justice of California’s Supreme Court announced on Thursday that she had left the Republican Party following the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye told CALmatters that she had been deliberating her decision for a while but made up her mind after watching the backlash following multiple sexual assault allegations leveled against Kavanaugh.
Christine Blasey Ford, a professor from Palo Alto, Calif., testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, alleging that Kavanaugh assaulted her in the 1980s when they were both high school students.
Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations in his subsequent hearing and was later confirmed to the nation’s highest court.
Cantil-Sakauye said she decided to re-register without a party affiliation, saying she didn’t look at it as leaving the Republican Party.
“I’ve been thinking about it for some time,” Cantil-Sakauye said, noting that she had discussed her decision with her husband and friends. She said they told her, “You didn’t leave the party. The party left you.”
The chief justice of California’s Supreme Court announced on Thursday that she had left the Republican Party following the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye told CALmatters that she had been deliberating her decision for a while but made up her mind after watching the backlash following multiple sexual assault allegations leveled against Kavanaugh.
Christine Blasey Ford, a professor from Palo Alto, Calif., testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, alleging that Kavanaugh assaulted her in the 1980s when they were both high school students.
Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations in his subsequent hearing and was later confirmed to the nation’s highest court.
Cantil-Sakauye said she decided to re-register without a party affiliation, saying she didn’t look at it as leaving the Republican Party.
“I’ve been thinking about it for some time,” Cantil-Sakauye said, noting that she had discussed her decision with her husband and friends. She said they told her, “You didn’t leave the party. The party left you.”
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Cantil-Sakauye, who was appointed as California’s chief justice in 2011 by then-GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was just the second woman to hold the position. She is also the first Filipina-American state Supreme Court justice.
“I felt compelled to make a choice now,” she told CALmatters. “It better suits what I do and how I approach issues.”
Cantil-Sakauye has sparred with the Trump administration in the past, saying earlier this week that the president’s attacks on judges who rule against him are damaging the rule of law.
“We as a branch (of government) need to defend our own,” Cantil-Sakauye said during an annual meeting with reporters. The best way to do that, she said, is to promote civics education and “invite the public into our courtrooms.”