Another example of that, because you might say, are there othercases like that, Miranda. So Miranda is reaffirmed a lot, but thenin the Dickerson case in 2000, Chief Justice Rehnquist writes theopinion, considering the stare decisis factors and reaffirming Mi-randa. Even though Chief Justice Rehnquist, by the way, had beena fervent critic of Miranda throughout his career, he decided thatit had been settled too long, had been precedent too long, and hereaffirmed it

o that is why both of those cases, Planned Parenthood v. Caseyand Dickerson, are cases where I would refer to them as precedenton precedent.Senator F EINSTEIN. So you believe it is correctly settled, but isit correct law in your view?Judge KAVANAUGH. Senator, there is on that case or onDickerson, or on cases like Citizens United or Heller or UnitedStates v. Lopez or Kelo, just the whole body of modern SupremeCourt case law, I have to follow what the nominees who have beenin this seat before have done.

has been reported that you have said that Roe is now settled law.The first question I have of you is what do you mean by ‘‘settledlaw’’? I tried to ask earlier do you believe it is correct law?Have your views on whether Roe is settled precedent or could beoverturned, and has your views changed since you were in theBush White House?Judge KAVANAUGH. Senator, I said that it is settled as a prece-dent of the Supreme Court, entitled the respect under principles ofstare decisis. And one of the important things to keep in mindabout Roe v. Wade is that it has been reaffirmed many times overthe past 45 years, as you know, and most prominently, most impor-tantly, reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992.And as you well recall, Senator, I know when that case came up,the Supreme Court did not just reaffirm it in passing. The Courtspecifically went through all the factors of stare decisis in consid-ering whether to overrule it, and the joint opinion of Justice Ken-nedy, Justice O’Connor, and Justice Souter, at great length wentthrough those factors.

Is it correct law?RESPONSE: Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986), is a precedent of the Supreme Courtentitled to the respect due under the law of precedent. As I discussed at the hearing, the law ofprecedent is not a judicial policy but rather is rooted in Article llI of the Constitution.Adherence to precedent ensures stability and predictability in the law, and reinforces theimpartiality and independence of the judiciary.46. In the 2003 case Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court held that states may not intrudeinto the bedrooms of same-sex couples. Justice Kennedy's majority opinion explainedthat laws prohibiting intimacy between same-sex couples are unconstitutional becausestates "cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their privatesexual conduct a crime

is most-ly a sham. You know the game. In the Bush White House, youcoached judicial nominees to just tell Senators that they have ‘‘acommitment to follow Supreme Court precedent, that they will ad-here to statutory text, that they have on ideological agenda.’’ Fairytales.At his hearing, Justice Roberts infamously said he would justcall balls and strikes, but this pattern, 73–0, of the Roberts Fivequalifies him to have NASCAR-style corporate badges on his robes.Alito said in his hearing what a strong principle stare decisiswas, an important limitation on the Court. Then he told the Fed-eralist Society, ‘‘Stare decisis means to leave things decided whenit suits our purposes.’’

he President early on assured evangelicals his Supreme Courtpicks would attack Roe v. Wade. Despite confirmation etiquette as-surances about precedent, your own words make clear you do notreally believe Roe v. Wade is settled law since the Court, as yousaid, ‘‘can always overrule its precedent.’

This reason, we believe—I believe—demonstrates that you arewilling to disregard precedent. And if that is the case because justsaying something is settled law, it really is, is it correct law?

I want to talk a little bit about one of the big deci-sions that we have the belief that although you told Senator Collinsthat you believed it was settled law, the question is, really, do youbelieve that it is correct law? And that is Roe v. Wade