WASHINGTON--Brett Kavanaugh spent a collegial first day on the bench as a U.S. Supreme Court justice on Tuesday that contrasted sharply with the venom of his confirmation process, taking an active role in arguments alongside his eight new colleagues.
Kavanaugh, a veteran of such proceedings after 12 years on an influential U.S. appeals court, looked at ease as he asked several questions during two hours of lively oral arguments involving a federal sentencing law for repeat offenders.
It seemed like business as usual in the ornate courtroom, three days after Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Republican-led Senate despite being accused of sexual assault by a university professor named Christine Blasey Ford. Appointed by President Donald Trump, Kavanaugh's confirmation cemented a conservative majority on the court that could last for years.
Kavanaugh took his seat at the right end of the courtroom's mahogany bench - the location assigned to the court's junior-most member - and wore traditional black robes like the other justices. Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, the 82-year-old jurist who Kavanaugh replaced, was in the courtroom, as were members of the new justice's family.
With police standing by, a small group of protesters demonstrated outside the courthouse, holding signs saying "Shame" and "He sits on a throne of lies," while chanting, "This isn't over, we're still here." With courtroom security tight, there were no disruptions by protesters during the arguments, as there had been during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings.
Chief Justice John Roberts formally welcomed Kavanaugh, 53, to a court that now has five conservative members and four liberals. "We wish you a long and happy career in our common calling," Roberts told Kavanaugh, who could serve for decades in the lifetime job.
The bitterly divided Senate voted 50-48 on Saturday to confirm Kavanaugh, with just one Democrat supporting him. Kavanaugh's confirmation gave the Republican president a political victory ahead of crucial Nov. 6 congressional elections. Kavanaugh was Trump's second selection for the nation's highest judicial body, following conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch last year.
Kavanaugh posed questions to lawyers in both cases before the court, his first one coming about 20 minutes into the arguments. At one point, Kavanaugh could be seen having a lighthearted exchange with liberal Justice Elena Kagan, seated next to him. At another point, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared to pinch Gorsuch, sitting next to her, to playfully illustrate her point about what constitutes a violent act. Gorsuch responded with a faux grimace of pain.
Tuesday's cases involved the 1984 Armed Career Criminal Act, a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" criminal sentencing law that boosts prison sentences for people who are convicted of crimes involving guns if they previously have been convicted of certain other crimes. The cases, involving a Florida robbery and burglaries in Tennessee and Arkansas, challenged the types of crimes that qualify as violent felonies under that law and can lead to 15-year mandatory minimum sentences.
