The Supreme Court Justice that Could Shape US Society

President Donald Trump has nominated federal appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve as the new Supreme Court justice. There could be a change in the court’s decisions from the positions the court has taken until now, posing the danger of causing friction in U.S. society. This nomination if confirmed could affect financial regulations, and even areas over which Japan holds influence. I would like to carefully make an observation with respect to such change.

The nine Supreme Court justices currently include four conservatives and four liberals. Anthony Kennedy, who retired because of his age, was often the deciding vote in on this court. For example, the decision to make same-sex marriage legal was narrowly decided on a 5-4 vote.

Kavanaugh is deeply conservative and holds retrospective views on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. If the court’s decisions take a 180 degree turn on these kinds of issues that divide public opinion, then disorder will be inevitable. The Senate must confirm the nomination of a justice to the Supreme Court, but the Democratic Party, which holds a minority of seats in the Senate, is resisting it.

What is concerning is that Kavanaugh previously wrote in a law review article that the law should “provide sitting presidents with a temporary deferral of civil suits and of criminal prosecutions and investigations.” If Trump, who is caught in a vortex of “Russiagate” suspicion, selected someone in order to disrupt the investigation which is targeting him, then it would damage public trust in the justices.

On the other hand, those in the world of U.S. economics favor the nomination of Kavanaugh because he calls for a reduction in the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau grew out of the financial crisis involving Lehman Brothers in 2008. It was established by former President Barack Obama as a financial regulatory agency, but critics in the economic world believe this agency inhibits the freedom of economic activity.

Would Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court accelerate efforts by the Trump administration to rescind financial regulations? The impact would not be not limited to the U.S. I would be interested in closely examining Kavanaugh’s remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing.

Since a Supreme Court justice generally serves for life, the influence on U.S. society will be long-lasting. In recent years, people with similar ideologies tended to succeed one another, and thus it was not much of a problem. However, this change in justices could cause the conservative and liberal balance to collapse. The U.S. is standing at a new crossroads.