Good:
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) wants to guarantee that those who’ve committed sexual assault stay out of positions of power, including in the federal court system.
The senator tweeted on Wednesday that going forward, she’ll be asking federal judge nominees under oath whether they have a history of sexual assault.
Hirono, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee which vets nominations to the Justice Department, began the new practice during a confirmation hearing for 5th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Kurt Engelhardt of New Orleans.
“As you know, women and men all across the country have been speaking out about their experiences with sexual assault and harassment. And it started in Hollywood but we know that it occurs in many other settings,” Hirono said on Wednesday during the hearing.
The senator then asked Engelhardt two questions about whether he’d ever been involved with sexual misconduct. The judge said he hadn’t.
Hirono said that her announcement comes on the heels of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ annual State of the Judiciary report, released last month, in which Roberts noted the judicial branch is “not immune” to issues regarding sexual harassment in the workplace. In the report, Roberts said he would launch a review of how the federal judiciary addresses sexual harassment in 2018.
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