are correctly decided and which i may disagree with. i do not feel it s appropriate for me to comment on whether or not the case was properly decided. i think that would be inappropriate. the canons of judicial conduct prohibit us from commenting. i m not allowed to comment on the merits of supreme court why can t they answer a simple question? let s discuss. erin carmoan is here, the coauthor of the notorious rbg. thank you both for coming on. good evening. it s just unbelievable. michael, i m going to start with you. why do you think that so many of trump s nominees can t say whether they support this case?
when i start commenting on supreme court decisions, which are correctly decided and which i may disagree with. i do not feel it s appropriate for me to comment on whether or not the case was properly decided. i think that would be inappropriate. the canons of judicial conduct prohibit us from commenting. i m not allowed to comment on the merits of supreme court why can t they answer a simple question? let s discuss. erin carmoan is here, the coauthor of the notorious rbg. thank you both for coming on. good evening. it s just unbelievable. michael, i m going to start with you. why do you think that so many of trump s nominees can t say whether they support this case, what is the explanation for that?
for nominees to say they can t answer it is problematic. erin, we were listening to the sound bite in the studio and just i was gasping, what, i can t believe that, as michael higginbotham just said brown versus board of education was a unanimous decision, conservative and liberal judges at the time, why are trump s nominees ducking this question? don, the consensus has shifted so quickly that you had brett kavanaugh, you had justice samuel alito, chief justice john roberts all saying they thought brown v. board was correctly decided. these are now judges to the right of those deeply conservative judges. we need to stop and try to understand why indeed this is happening. there s two factors at play here. one is that the rules have already dramatically changed under mitch mcconnell who has really prioritized this makeover of the federal courts. everybody remembers merit garland but what about the fact
answer it is problematic. erin, we were listening to the sound bite in the studio and just i was gasping, what, i can t believe that, as michael higginbotham just said brown versus board of education was a unanimous decision, conservative and liberal judges at the time, why are trump s nominees ducking this question? don, the consensus has shifted so quickly that you had brett kavanaugh, you had justice samuel alito, chief justice john roberts all saying they thought brown v. board was correctly decided. these are now judges to the right of those deeply conservative judges. we need to stop and try to understand why indeed this is happening? there s two factors at play here. one is that the rules have already dramatically changed under mitch mcconnell who has really prioritized this makeover of the federal courts. everybody remembers merit garland but what about the fact in the waning years of the
about abortion. they don t if they feel like it s a trap. some conservatives say if you answer the question on brown, then you have to answer the question on roe and talk about abortion. that s a weak argument, though, as was pointed out, john roberts, sam alito, brett kavanaugh, other conservative justices all answered the question on brown. there s no reason not to answer the question on brown. and any nominee to the federal court should be able to distinguish between a core principle in american democracy and stuff that is unsettled. it s like they can t tell the difference between a welcome mat and a no trespassing sign. it s easy to distinguish any nominee should be able to do so. if they can t they disqualify themselves. i learned a lot from this conversation. thank you, michael, thank you, erin, i appreciate it. donald trump ran on he has reputation as a deal maker. but what do all of his deals have in common? van jones is here to tell us, next.