1 00:00:01,966 --> 00:00:05,866 JUDY WOODRUFF: And you are going to want to know what to expect from the Senate Judiciary 2 00:00:05,866 --> 00:00:10,366 Committee tomorrow in the questioning of Judge Kavanaugh and Professor Blasey Ford. 3 00:00:10,366 --> 00:00:13,733 For that now, I'm joined by Julie Goldscheid. 4 00:00:13,733 --> 00:00:18,733 She is a professor of law at the City University of New York, where she teaches classes on 5 00:00:19,466 --> 00:00:21,600 gender and law. 6 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,466 She is one of several law professors who wrote a letter today urging the Judiciary Committee 7 00:00:25,466 --> 00:00:30,466 to further investigate the claims made by Blasey Ford and these other women. 8 00:00:32,833 --> 00:00:36,800 Professor Goldscheid, let me just start by asking, the letter to the committee, what 9 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:41,766 was the point you were making in that letter, which is critical of how the committee is 10 00:00:42,533 --> 00:00:44,466 structured tomorrow? 11 00:00:44,466 --> 00:00:46,933 JULIE GOLDSCHEID, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law: Yes, thank you. 12 00:00:46,933 --> 00:00:51,666 The point of the letter is really to ask the senators to do what we would expect any fact-finder 13 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,600 to do, which is to pause, to get a full investigation, and to assess all of the evidence in the context 14 00:01:01,100 --> 00:01:03,566 that's before the committee. 15 00:01:03,566 --> 00:01:05,200 This is not a criminal case. 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,266 It's not a civil case. 17 00:01:07,266 --> 00:01:11,966 It's not about evidence that's going to be assessed based on a preponderance of the evidence 18 00:01:14,133 --> 00:01:16,600 or beyond a reasonable doubt standard. 19 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:21,600 This is a question about whether or not somebody should be nominated and appointed to the Supreme 20 00:01:24,266 --> 00:01:26,533 Court, the highest court in the country. 21 00:01:26,533 --> 00:01:30,900 And for that, there are many complex questions that I would think the senators should be 22 00:01:30,900 --> 00:01:32,866 interested in. 23 00:01:32,866 --> 00:01:37,133 They should be interested in assessing the very serious allegations that have been made 24 00:01:38,666 --> 00:01:43,033 and hearing the nominees reflections on those allegations. 25 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,233 Not only do they raise very serious concerns, but they also raise complex questions that 26 00:01:50,233 --> 00:01:53,400 are of the type of issue -- that reflect the type of issues that the court deals with all 27 00:01:54,033 --> 00:01:56,200 the time. 28 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,433 And the senators should be interested in how the nominee reflects on that kind of complicated 29 00:01:59,433 --> 00:02:01,533 allegation and complicated dynamic. 30 00:02:01,533 --> 00:02:05,133 JUDY WOODRUFF: And I know that you and the others who were signing this letter were calling 31 00:02:05,133 --> 00:02:10,133 for an investigation to take place, just as Dr. Blasey Ford and her attorney were calling 32 00:02:10,900 --> 00:02:12,933 for. 33 00:02:12,933 --> 00:02:16,900 But we know that there will be, there has been no, and won't be an FBI investigation. 34 00:02:17,766 --> 00:02:19,166 They have been talking to her. 35 00:02:19,166 --> 00:02:21,266 What will be missing then? 36 00:02:21,266 --> 00:02:25,766 I mean, what is it -- what is it -- what will be the role of Rachel Mitchell, who will be 37 00:02:28,166 --> 00:02:31,633 asking question for the Republicans, and then of the Democratic senators in getting to the 38 00:02:31,633 --> 00:02:36,133 bottom of this, as best they can, when there has not been an FBI investigation? 39 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:37,633 JULIE GOLDSCHEID: Right. 40 00:02:37,633 --> 00:02:40,433 Well, your point is a very good one. 41 00:02:40,433 --> 00:02:45,433 Without a full investigation for background, and without all the witnesses who can speak 42 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,500 to the allegations, there's really an incomplete picture that will be painted at the hearings, 43 00:02:53,466 --> 00:02:56,800 by definition, unless the senators decide to open up the hearings to more witnesses 44 00:02:58,766 --> 00:03:02,000 who can talk about their -- the accounts that they heard about the allegations before the 45 00:03:04,566 --> 00:03:06,766 - - before these hearings. 46 00:03:06,766 --> 00:03:11,766 So, the task for the -- for the hearings tomorrow is to paint as clear and as complete and as 47 00:03:14,733 --> 00:03:19,733 neutral a picture as possible about what Dr. Ford experienced and what the nominee, Judge 48 00:03:22,133 --> 00:03:27,066 Kavanaugh, experienced, and to hear his reflections on these very delicate details and difficult 49 00:03:31,833 --> 00:03:33,833 allegations. 50 00:03:33,833 --> 00:03:37,833 JUDY WOODRUFF: So, we have been -- her opening statement, Christine Blasey Ford's opening 51 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:40,266 statement, has been released, we know. 52 00:03:40,266 --> 00:03:42,466 We have been able to take a look at that. 53 00:03:42,466 --> 00:03:47,466 She's pretty much giving the same description of what happened that night at that party 54 00:03:49,433 --> 00:03:52,800 in 1982 in that summer that we have been told, with a little more detail. 55 00:03:54,866 --> 00:03:59,433 Given that, and given that Judge Kavanaugh is saying he wasn't at the party, doesn't 56 00:03:59,433 --> 00:04:04,400 know her, how does any -- how does a questioner get to some evidence, some information that's 57 00:04:08,166 --> 00:04:10,866 going to advance our understanding of what really happened? 58 00:04:10,866 --> 00:04:13,366 JULIE GOLDSCHEID: Yes. 59 00:04:13,366 --> 00:04:17,233 Well, one thing that the questioner can do is can ask about both witnesses' understandings 60 00:04:18,700 --> 00:04:22,366 of some of the other information that has come to come to light. 61 00:04:22,366 --> 00:04:27,366 So, for example, if Judge Kavanaugh says he has no recollection, he can be probed about 62 00:04:29,333 --> 00:04:32,966 some of the other accounts that have come forward about the details of some of the parties 63 00:04:34,833 --> 00:04:39,266 and the atmosphere and the culture that at least many people think took place at that 64 00:04:40,566 --> 00:04:42,700 school at the time that he was there. 65 00:04:42,700 --> 00:04:47,633 So, she can get his reactions to those -- those accounts of what was going on at the time. 66 00:04:50,933 --> 00:04:55,933 JUDY WOODRUFF: Are questions about how much drinking did he do, how much partying, I mean, 67 00:04:57,833 --> 00:05:01,000 are those kinds of general questions going to bring us closer to understanding whether 68 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,066 this happened or not? 69 00:05:03,066 --> 00:05:07,333 JULIE GOLDSCHEID: I think part of the task is to come to as clear an assessment of what 70 00:05:09,033 --> 00:05:11,066 happened as possible. 71 00:05:11,066 --> 00:05:15,733 And we know that, in many cases like this, there are competing versions, competing accounts 72 00:05:15,733 --> 00:05:17,766 of what happened. 73 00:05:17,766 --> 00:05:21,733 So, the task for the senators is really to listen very carefully and closely to the answers 74 00:05:24,133 --> 00:05:28,300 to try to hear how much consistency or inconsistency there is in the respective witnesses' reports 75 00:05:31,166 --> 00:05:36,166 and to make their own assessments, both about what happened, but about how the nominee's 76 00:05:38,133 --> 00:05:42,000 responses bear on his ability to serve as a Supreme Court justice, because I really 77 00:05:43,466 --> 00:05:46,533 can't underscore enough that that's what's at issue here. 78 00:05:46,533 --> 00:05:51,533 This is more akin to a job interview than any kind of criminal or civil proceeding. 79 00:05:53,366 --> 00:05:56,800 It's really about his qualifications for this very, very important position. 80 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,000 JUDY WOODRUFF: Professor Goldscheid, finally, just one question. 81 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:05,000 If you were asking questions of Judge Kavanaugh tomorrow, what's the most important thing 82 00:06:06,333 --> 00:06:07,833 you would want to know from him? 83 00:06:07,833 --> 00:06:10,700 JULIE GOLDSCHEID: Yes, good question. 84 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:15,700 I might want to know his view, if the allegations were true, what he -- what his views would 85 00:06:19,566 --> 00:06:22,200 be about them and what he would think about them. 86 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:27,200 I really want to hear his thoughts about the seriousness of sexual assault. 87 00:06:28,366 --> 00:06:30,400 We know that sexual assault is pervasive. 88 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:35,200 It continues to be pervasive, despite all of the gains and progress that's been made, 89 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,133 and I want to hear what his assessment is of those accounts. 90 00:06:40,133 --> 00:06:44,766 JUDY WOODRUFF: Julie Goldscheid, she's a professor at the City University of New York. 91 00:06:44,766 --> 00:06:45,800 We thank you. 92 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,233 JULIE GOLDSCHEID: Thank you. 93 00:06:47,233 --> 00:06:48,533 CUNY School of Law. 94 00:06:48,533 --> 00:06:49,533 Thank you. 95 00:06:49,533 --> 00:06:50,533 JUDY WOODRUFF: I'm sorry. 96 00:06:50,533 --> 00:06:52,533 Thank you very much. 97 00:06:52,533 --> 00:06:56,366 And a reminder: We will have full live coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing 98 00:06:56,366 --> 00:07:00,166 with Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford tomorrow. 99 00:07:00,166 --> 00:07:01,666 That is starting at 10:00 a.m. 100 00:07:01,666 --> 00:07:03,633 Eastern. 101 00:07:03,633 --> 00:07:07,166 You can check your local PBS station listings for more information, or you can watch us 102 00:07:07,166 --> 00:07:08,400 livestreaming. 103 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,833 That's online at PBS.org/NewsHour.