Parkland Survivor 'Very Concerned' Kavanaugh 'Would Strike Down Any Assault Weapons Ban'
The survivor said in Friday's confirmation hearings that "our lives are just as important as any American's freedom to own a gun.”
September 07, 2018 at 06:13 PM
3 minute read
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal
A survivor of the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting said on Friday that she was “very concerned” about Brett Kavanaugh's views on guns and the assault weapons ban, as she implored senators to consider voting against the U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
Aalayah Eastmond, a witness for the Democratic minority in the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged senators at Friday's confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh to weigh the nominee's record on the Second Amendment, after delivering an emotional recounting of the Parkland shooting, which brought Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, to tears.
“I am very concerned since learning Brett Kavanaugh's views on guns, and how he would strike down any assault weapons ban,” Eastmond said. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior, who also lost an uncle to gun violence, stressed that gun violence “disproportionately impacts black and brown youth.”
Her testimony came after Democratic senators went after Kavanaugh on his views of the Second Amendment, zeroing in on his dissent in a 2010 case on a D.C. gun ban law. His dissent would have struck down the ban on semi-automatic rifles as unconstitutional.
During his confirmation hearings, he argued that he had not been detached from the real-world effects of gun violence—noting he grew up in D.C. area, at the time “a city plagued by gun violence”—and defended his interpretation of Supreme Court precedent.
Eastmond also referred to images that have captured social media: a picture and video of an encounter between Kavanagh and Fred Guttenberg, the father of a Parkland shooting victim. Guttenberg tweeted Tuesday that Kavanaugh turned away from him at the day's hearing, refusing to shake his hand after he introduced himself. (A White House staffer has disputed that account and said security intervened.)
Nevertheless on Friday, Eastmond raised the incident, stating, “If Kavanaugh doesn't have decency to shake hands with the father of a victim, he definitely won't have the decency to make life-changing decisions that affect white people.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, also asked Eastmond—who wore a T-shirt that read “Team Enough”—what she would say to Kavanaugh about assault weapons. (The senator, who choked up as he spoke to Eastmond, represents Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook massacre that killed 28, mostly children, took place in 2012.)
“That my life along with all of the other youth is more important than that gun,” Eastmond replied.
“If he said to you, there is this legal principle that says unless there was a ban or one analogous to it at the time of our constitution, or traditionally in our law, what you would say about the real impact of that kind of assault weapon on your life?” Blumenthal asked.
Eastmond replied that such an assault weapon was used to kill people in many of America's recent gun massacres, including Parkland and Sandy Hook.
“He needs to listen to us because our lives are just as important as any American's freedom to own a gun,” Eastmond said.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllUS Reviewer of Foreign Transactions Sees More Political, Policy Influence, Say Observers
Delaware Supreme Court Adopts Broad Interpretation of Case Law on Anticompetition Provisions
3 minute readThe Week in Data Dec. 19: A Look at Legal Industry Trends by the Numbers
Davis Polk Moves to New, Expanded Redwood City Office
Trending Stories
- 1Call for Nominations: Elite Trial Lawyers 2025
- 2Senate Judiciary Dems Release Report on Supreme Court Ethics
- 3Senate Confirms Last 2 of Biden's California Judicial Nominees
- 4Morrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
- 5Tom Girardi to Surrender to Federal Authorities on Jan. 7
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250