Readers React: Why it matters a lot that Brett Kavanaugh and Merrick Garland didn’t vote together 7% of the time

To the editor: One letter writer notes that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh voted with Judge Merrick Garland, his former colleague on the U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, 93% of time. He asks whether the fight over Kavanaugh was worth that difference of seven percentage points.

When you consider that the DNA of humans and the DNA of chimpanzees are 96% similar, the 4% means a lot in the real world.

Those seven percentage points are the difference between asserting we are “one nation under God” in word and disavowing God in our actions and behavior. It is the difference between our self-righteous assertion of having “Christian values” and following the teachings of Christ in our public and private lives.

We are now facing another generation of companies buying speech while flesh-and-blood persons lose their rights but corporate citizens are unshackled by regulation. Seven percent may not seem like much until it starts measuring the humanity we are losing as individuals and as a nation.

Ted Schneider, Claremont

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To the editor: A letter writer posits that Garland and Kavanaugh voted together 93% of the time and thus, what was the fuss all about?

For the purpose of the writer’s argument, I accept that figure. But most federal court decisions are not controversial and involve the application of statutes and regulations.

However, what’s especially interesting is the 7% of cases on which Garland and Kavanaugh disagreed. Let’s talk about that.

Jan Rainbird, Irvine

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