5 Questions for SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh

[EasyAce]

By Damon Root
http://reason.com/blog/2018/09/03/5-questions-for-scotus-nominee-brett-kav

. . . Kavanaugh, 53, is a respected federal judge with many admirers in conservative legal circles. But there are still a number of unanswered questions when it comes to his jurisprudence. Here are five matters that I would like to hear Kavanaugh address as he faces the Senate Judiciary Committee in the coming days.

1. Congressional Power . . . Do you believe that the federal authority to regulate interstate commerce is broad enough to allow Congress to ban a local activity that is legal under state law and that never crosses any state lines?

2. Executive Power . . . Do you agree that a president's executive orders should get a free pass from judicial review if the orders are purportedly connected to the president's "formal national-security judgment"? In your opinion, how deferential must the federal courts be to the executive branch when the president claims to be acting in the name of national security?

3. Unenumerated Rights . . . In your view, is the Supreme Court ever justified in securing unenumerated rights from government infringement? And if not, should the Supreme Court overturn its applicable precedents and stop recognizing the unwritten right to privacy?

4. Judicial Restraint . . . Please explain your criteria for determining precisely when the judiciary is supposed to "afford great respect" to lawmakers and thus avoid "upending" their "legislative effort."

5. Searches and Seizures . . . Do you continue to believe that the Fourth Amendment suffers no violation when the federal government engages in the wholesale warrantless collection of every Americans' telephone record metadata? . . .