Readers React: Brett Kavanaugh is unquestionably qualified for the Supreme Court. That should be enough for Democrats

To the editor: The attacks against President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court began as soon as federal appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh was named as the president’s choice.

Kavanaugh is an outstanding jurist with unquestionable qualifications to sit on the high court. The problem, however, is that there are many who believe that Kavanaugh is “too conservative.”

So, I put it to Kavanaugh’s critics, legion that they are, the following hypothetical: The nominee announces that he will solemnly swear that he will truly and faithfully vote on any case in which he is asked to render an opinion, exactly as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would have him vote.

Is this the kind of justice that the American people want sitting on the court? I think not.

The only valid question should be whether Kavanaugh is sufficiently intelligent, experienced and of a judicial temperament to handle the job. If the answer is affirmative, then confirm the gentleman.

R. William Schoettler, Studio City

The writer is a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.

..

To the editor: My greatest concern regarding the president’s choice of Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court is his views, which have already been stated and cited, regarding investigations of a sitting president and his protective views toward the presidency in this regard.

Knowing as we do how the president has berated his attorney general again and again for not protecting him enough from the Russia investigation, and knowing as we do about his conversations with former FBI Director James Comey before he was fired, is it possible that the president, in deciding to nominate Kavanaugh, took into account his own well-being?

Stacey Cole, Lancaster

..

To the editor: Yes, presidents deserve their picks for the Supreme Court. It is good for our court and for our democracy.

But that means all presidents deserve their picks, and not just Republican presidents. Until the theft of federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland’s seat on the Supreme Court is addressed, this process will remained poisoned.

Michael Olson, Pasadena

..

To the editor: The fact that the braggadocios, dishonest Donald Trump has been able to pick two Supreme Court justices who will help shape the course of American justice for decades has got to be the most calamitously paradoxical event in the history of our democratic experiment.

Let’s hope we survive his brief tenure in the White House.

Robert Chickering, Laguna Beach

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook