Kavanaugh Called Justices 'Umpires.' That's Nonsense.

Once again a Supreme Court nominee has insulted the intelligence of the American public by likening justices to “umpires.” Echoing the language used by John Roberts at his confirmation hearings in 2005, Brett Kavanaugh declared Tuesday before the Senate: “A good judge must be an umpire — a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy.… I don't decide cases based on personal or policy preferences.”

But justices are not umpires at all. Umpires apply rules and have little leeway in determining how those rules should be interpreted. The Supreme Court creates the rules and justices have enormous discretion how to interpret the law. By likening himself to an umpire, Kavanaugh was contending that his views don't matter at all. That is false.