NYC Attorneys Blast Brett Kavanaugh In City-Wide Protests

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — Dozens of attorneys who represent low-income New Yorkers gathered at Foley Square Thursday to denounce Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as part of city-wide protests.

Lawyers with the Legal Services Staff Association and the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys condemned Kavanaugh, who has been mired in controversy in recent weeks with sexual misconduct allegations, and called on New York U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer “to do everything in his power" to block Kavanaugh's accession to the nation's highest court

"We are rallying here today because Judge Kavanaugh would be a disaster for women, people of color — for all working people," said Sonja Shield, president of the Legal Services Staff Association. "In this past week, he has shown his open, partisan rage at liberals at anyone who seeks to question or challenge him. How could anyone hope for a fair trial in front of him?”

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified to a Senate committee on Sept. 27 that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s. Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations of sexual misconduct and called his confirmation process a "national disgrace" during his fiery testimony to the committee, which has become fodder for countless think pieces and debates.

"What that hearing demonstrated live on TV is that women don’t matter, people of color don’t matter, the vast majority of our clients don’t matter, allegations of sexual assault and harassment don’t matter," said Deborah Wright, president of The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. "No one should stand for this and we won’t.”

Demonstrators waved home-made posters scrawled with "Defend Women Stop Kavanaugh," "No Justice No Seat" and "Kava-HELL-nah!" Cries of "Hey hey, ho ho, Kavanaugh has got to go" and "Listen to survivors not sniveling liars" drowned out the roar of traffic on Center and Lafayette streets. The protest was one of four across the boroughs, except for Staten Island, that amassed hundreds of lawyers against Kavanaugh.

Lawyers gathered near Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday to protest Brett Kavanaugh

The federal judge's confirmation would be a major blow to struggling New Yorkers, said one attorney.

“We work on the front lines day in and day out defending people who are crushed under the weight of poverty and we see just how fragile their rights are," said Brian Sullivan, a lawyer and member of The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. "With Judge Kavanaugh at the head of that judiciary, it is guaranteed those rights will be further eroded."

In the past few weeks, Americans across the country haven taken to the streets to protest Kavanaugh’s nomination and have called on their elected officials to take a stand against the judge.

Arizona U.S. Senator Jeff Flake was confronted by two impassioned women — one of whom is a Queens activist — at the U.S. Capitol last week shortly before he called for a one-week delay of the Senate vote for a FBI investigation into allegations against Kavanaugh. The interaction helped galvanize outraged Americans, said Sullivan.

“There was this powerful moment where they’re in the elevator with him and they say, ‘Look me in the eye,’ and they force him to look them in the eye, and I feel like there has been this collective moment of that," he told Patch.

A FBI report on the investigation was released to government officials Thursday and a pair of key Republican senators have since expressed satisfaction with the findings, increasing the likelihood of a Senate confirmation of Kavanaugh in the coming days.

Even if he is confirmed as the nation's next Supreme Court justice, Sullivan believes the wave of protests across the country against the "vile undercurrent of misogyny" Kavanaugh's Senate hearings have helped expose will give way to positive change.

"I think even if we loose this, something will be different after that — something’s been spoken that can’t be unsaid or unheard," Sullivan told Patch. "Look at the rallies after the detention of migrant children, policies changed after that, and I think you'll see something similar here. There's a possibility that things will change."

Photos courtesy of Caroline Spivack/Patch