Kavanaugh is Innocent - Argumentative Essay

Introduction

In criminal law case setting, it is the onus of the prosecution to prove their case beyond any reasonable doubt. The decision of President Trump to appoint Brett Kavanaugh to the position of the Judge of Supreme Court has seen various allegation levied against him. Three women have come forward to claim that Kavanaugh is not fit to hold the office because of sexual assaults on women and accused of drinking while underage (Chokshi & Jacobs, 2018). The allegation of drinking is not denied verbatim by Kavanaugh, he, however, points out the allegation that he drunk while below the legally allowed age is not true. He asserts that the law provided the legal age for drinking was eighteen years before it was later increased to twenty-one. During his schooling period in 1988, Kavanaugh insinuates that he was of age when he engaged in drinking. However, the issue of drinking has not attracted much attention to the investigation that the issue of sex assault.

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Kavanaugh Not Guilty-Analysis

So far, three women have come forward claiming that they were sexually assaulted by a group of an individual during the parties that were attended by Judge and Kavanaugh. Although there is no express link that shows that Kavanaugh in person assaulted the women, it is alleged that he was present at the parties where women were drugged and raped at a backroom. The matter has gained much attention because the white house is seen to interfere with the investigations. Watkins, Zeleny, and Campell (2018, Oct 1) reports that the FBI interviewed Deborah Ramirez who accused Kavanaugh of sex assault. Her allegations are that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party while both were a student at Yale. Kavanaugh denied the claim. It is worth noting that the allegation by Ramirez is made 30 years after the incidence. She does not say that she ever reported the incidence anywhere in that period of time.

The other person accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were high school student is Christine Ford. The Judge has denied the allegation. She says that Mark Judge was in the room when the assault took place. Mark Judge on his side says that he does not remember the assault described by Ford and does not recall the party at all. This is the same sentiment that is shared by Smyth and Keyser who opine that they did not remember the party. Their statement seems to collaborate the claim by Kavanaugh. However, since there is an allegation of interference, a person might think that these witnesses have been couched and told what to say. This might be true to some extent but does not mean that it is a must that a person remember attending a certain party after thirty years, probably after attending many others at the time (Wolf, 2018). To this extent, I don't think that Ramirez has proved her case of sexual assault because her claim is supported by the people she claims was in the party, they instead seem to contradict her statement. It has also taken inordinately long for her to report the incidence.

The other woman who is accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault and drinking excessively is Ms. Julie who submitted an affidavit detailing claims of how Kavanaugh behaved while at school (Watkins, Zeleny & Campbell, 2018). She asserts that while at high School she attended over ten house parties where Mark Judge and Kavanaugh were present and were engaging in excessive drinking and highly inappropriate behavior. She further alleges that Kavanaugh would engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior towards girls that would entail trying to remove their clothes to expose their private body parts. She further asserts that Kavanaugh and other boys would spike the drink so that the girls become inebriated and disoriented so that they can be gang-raped in a side room by numerous boys. She alleges that she saw boys including Judge and Kavanaugh line up waiting or their turn to rape a spiked girl. She says that she fell a victim of the ordeal when Kavanaugh and Judge were present, however, she does not expressly mention that they raped or spiked her. Thus indicating that her allegation might not be true. Her allegation that Kavanaugh and Judge were present at the party, if true, indicates that she attended the party aware that girls were spiked and would be raped. Although this does not justify raping ordeal, it indicates that she exposed herself to the risk which she knew the consequence. It would also be a hearsay because she did not report to any authority during her schooling period. The affidavit might be founded on malice or bad motive to derail the assumption of office to the Supreme Court by Kavanaugh. Since rape is a serious offense, Julie ought to have reported to the administration or the police the earliest time possible. However this is not the case, she chooses to wait for an opportune moment for her to raise the issue. As such, I do not find her claim and affidavit to be authentic unless the claim is collaborated by other witnesses.

On her part, Christine Blasey Ford accuses Kavanaugh of assaulting her in high school. She stated that the accused was a stumbling drunk, he was 17 when he pinned her down and put her hands over her mouth while his friends were watching. Cranley (2018) reports that Ford that she would be killed by Kavanaugh who was trying to remove her clothes. She further alleges that at one instant, Mark Judge was in the room when rape attempt failed. She narrates that the rape failed when Judge jumped on them. Asked about the incident, Judge said that he did not remember the incident. In support of her delayed attempt to report the matter, Ford said these are all the ills that she was trying to avoid. Her choice to report the matter now and not any other time is because she now feels like her civic responsibility is outweighing the anguish and terror about retaliation. These assertions are not true because they are calculated to paint the bad picture of Cavanaugh after his appointment to the Supreme Court. If he had not landed the position, it is most probable that Ford would not report the matter.

Conclusion

From the above analysis, I, therefore, do not find the allegation of these women to be true or sustainable because they have inordinately waited for so long to report incidences that happened over 30 years ago. Unless there are witnesses who would collaborate their claim. In this sense, therefore, I don't see Kavanaugh be guilty of any of the alleged offenses.

References

Chokshi, N. & Jacobs, J. (2018). Brett Kavanaugh: The News, the Hearing and the F.B.I. Investigations. Retrieved on October 1, 2018 from https://www.pulselive.co.ke/bi/politics/here-are-all-the-sexual-misconduct-allegations-against-brett-kavanaugh-id8896705.html

Cranley, E. (2018). Here are all the sexual-misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. Retrieved on October 1, 2018 from https://www.pulselive.co.ke/bi/politics/here-are-all-the-sexual-misconduct-allegations-against-brett-kavanaugh-id8896705.html

Watkins, E., Zeleny, J., & Campbell, J.(2018). FBI interviews Kavanaugh accuser Deborah Ramirez as part of its narrow scope. Retrieved on October 1, 2018 from https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/30/politics/fbi-brett-kavanaugh-investigation/index.html

Wolf, R. (2018). Republicans' prosecutor says Brett Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, has a weak case. Retrieved on October 1, 2018 from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/01/brett-kavanaugh-gop-prosecutor-says-sex-assault-accuser-has-weak-case/1484373002/