On Day 2 of the confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse points out how unlikely it is that a Republican SCOTUS majority rules in favor of consumers.
"In 73 partisan decisions where there's a big Republican interest at stake, the big Republican interest wins every damned time," he said.
"Let me propose one thought to you, which is that the Supreme Court, at least, should fix its rules on who the amici are who turn up, and require some disclosure of who's really behind them. The only thing the Supreme Court requires is to disclose who paid for the briefs. The brief itself is not a very big expense, and so very powerful interests can come in behind an amicus group that has a lovely name like Citizens for Peace and, Prosperity and Puppies, and no one knows who is really the interest."
Whitehouse also talked about groups that "try to lose" in the lower courts so they can reach the Supreme Court "where they expect a good outcome," there's "something that doesn't seem right about that."
Kavanaugh continued to play dumb, even though he's a member of the Federalist Society, which does exactly that.
Watch the whole thing. Whitehouse is a former state and federal prosecutor, and it shows.
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