Expert Avail: Kavanaugh Hearings

As you prepare to cover the Brett Kavanaugh hearings today, these scholars are responsive and available to give expert commentary:

Meg Mott, Professor of Politics, Malboro College

Expert on the adjudication of sexual assault cases in American society
Email: [email protected]

"Having worked in the battered women's movement during the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, I saw first hand how a social movement could redirect the wheels of justice. I also saw how a social movement could untether criminal proceedings from constitutional commitments to due process. I'm interested in other ways to approach the problem of sexual violence so that we can move forward as a country and as a society."

Sarah Diefendorf, SSN Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Utah

Expert on conservative sexual politics
Email: [email protected]

"I studied men who were virgins. Virginity wasn't a shield that protected men from sexual assault or from finding ways to enact dominance over women. Quite the opposite. Because of the stigma of the label of virgin, these men had to find others ways to assert their masculinity." 

Sheldon Goldman, Distinguished Professor of Political Sciences, UMass Amherst

Expert on the politics of judicial selection and confirmation
Email: [email protected]

"The hearings are riveting theater with high stakes for the Supreme Court and the country.  Without these hearings much of the country would not pay attention to the Kavanaugh nomination and without them the political consequences would have been minimal. The hearings are absolutely necessary for our democracy."