WASHINGTON — Four years after angrily denying sexual assault allegations at his Senate confirmation, Justice Brett Kavanaugh remains the U.S. Supreme Court’s lightning rod no matter how many conciliatory opinions he writes.
Kavanaugh is at the center of the conservative court, joining the majority more than any other justice in the past two terms. He’s less confrontational than some colleagues, often acknowledging the force of the other side’s arguments. In casting key votes to eliminate constitutional abortion protections and expand gun rights, he wrote separately to lay out limits to those rulings.
None of it has mattered, at least to his detractors. Hostility has only grown amid the court's reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, with protesters regularly targeting Kavanaugh’s home and recently converging at a Washington restaurant where he was dining. He’s still mocked by late-night comedians for his Senate tirade, including his infamous declaration, “I like beer!”
