Brett Kavanaugh is the target of opposition letters signed by hundreds of law professors. Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg

Professors from three Florida law schools are among close to 1,000 nationally to sign a letter stating Brett Kavanaugh lacks the “judicial temperament” necessary for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We regret that we feel compelled to write to you to provide our views” about Kavanaugh's display of “a lack of judicial temperament that would be disqualifying for any court, and certainly for elevation to the highest court of this land,” the letter to the U.S. Senate reads.

The list of signatories was growing by the hour with the signature drive open online until noon Thursday.

A total of 523 full, associate, visiting and emeritus professors at 90 schools signed on by the close of business Tuesday, and that climbed to 907 professors from 154 law schools by late Wednesday.

FIfteen faculty members from the University of Miami, three from Florida International University and two from the University of Florida were on the early list.

The signatories also included University of California, Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky; former Harvard Law Dean Martha Minow; legal ethics expert and Stanford Law professor Deborah Rhode; and multiple professors from Kavanaugh's alma mater, Yale Law School, and Harvard Law School, where the nominee has taught a winter course for a decade. (Kavanaugh announced Monday that he will not teach at Harvard Law this January as planned after student and alumni protests.)

A separate group of 660 female law professors plans send their another letter to the the Senate on Thursday, arguing Kavanaugh cannot be impartial and he was especially condescending toward women senators during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

“Judge Kavanaugh's lack of respect for our democratic institutions, and for women in positions of power in particular, revealed that he does not have the requisite judicial temperament,” reads the letter from the female professors. “We would never allow our students to engage in such conduct even in mock proceedings or the classroom.”

Ruth Colker, a professor at Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law who signed both letters said she agreed with the content.

“I watched every minute of the hearing, except the last 45 minutes, and I was expecting him to sound more like Neil Gorsuch,” she said. “I was expecting him to do the judicial temperament dance, like a judge. I was listing to his opening remarks, which were scripted, and when he started talking about conspiracies and the Clintons, I thought, 'Huh?'”

One of the letters argues Kavanaugh “exhibited a lack of commitment to judicious inquiry.” He interrupted his committee questioners and was aggressive toward them, according to the letter. The letter goes on to cite statutes governing judicial bias and recusals, calling impartiality the “cornerstone of the courts.”

“We have differing views about the other qualifications of Judge Kavanaugh,” the larger group letter reads. “But we are united, as professors of law and scholars of judicial institutions, in believing that Judge Kavanaugh did not display the impartiality and judicial temperament requisite to sit on the highest court of our land.”

Colker said she thinks legal educators have a responsibility to weigh in on matters pertaining to the credibility of the judiciary. Whether or not senators will listen is an open question, she noted.

“All eyes are obviously on about four people,” Colker said, referring to a handful of senators who say they are undecided on Kavanaugh's confirmation. “It's hard to know what will be the tipping point for those four individuals. I would hope they would take seriously this statement from such a large number of law professors from different political persuasions. I could imagine this will be one factor among many someone would care about.”

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