Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted confirmation hearings for several judicial appointees including Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett. Willett has been nominated for a spot on the fifth circuit.
An avid Twitter user, Willett is a bright, humorous spot on the social media platform. Prior to the hearing, many a politic-watcher wondered if Willett’s Twitter feed would be questioned.
And it was.
Democrat Sen. Leahy took issue with a tweet Justice Willett published after the Obergefell decision on same-sex marriage.
Sen. Leahy used the tweet to grill Willett over his ability to respect precedent.
“Respectfully, I don’t believe I have attacked Supreme Court precedent, but certainly if I were fortunate enough to be confirmed as a federal circuit judge, I would be honor-bound, categorically, absolutely, to follow every controlling precedent,” explained Justice Willett.
When Sen. Leahy persisted, Willett attempted again to explain the context of his tweet saying, “Senator, as for the bacon tweet, that was the day after the Obergefell decision was issued and it was my attempt to invect a bit of levity. The country was filled with rancor and polarization. It was a divisive time in the nation.”
Exchange here:
You know you’re thinking it:
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