WASHINGTON- Justice Brett Kavanaugh will not participate in the tradition of walking down the marble steps in front of the Supreme Court following his formal investiture ceremony next Thursday, the Supreme Court announced, citing security reasons.
Kavanaugh, who has served since being confirmed early last month, will have his formal investiture ceremony, which has often been followed by a walk — and photo opportunity — on the front steps with the chief justice, in this case John Roberts.
But Kavanaugh won’t make the walk “out of an abundance of caution due to security concerns,” Supreme Court spokesperson Kathleen Arberg said Friday.
Both Kavanaugh and California professor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford have received a slew of death threats after Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while they were in high school, and detailed her allegation during a testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh denied any wrongdoing and was confirmed to the court in October after a week-long FBI investigation into the allegations made by Ford and other women.
“What happened to the Kavanaugh family violates every notion of fairness, decency and due process,” said President Donald Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct himself, during Kavnanaugh’s ceremonial swearing-in last month.
People “must always be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty,” the President continued.
The tradition of walking down the Supreme Court steps after a formal investiture ceremony — usually done alongside the court’s chief justice — began in the 1950s, but not all justices have participated in the tradition. The-
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