Flashback: The Anita Hill Hearings Compared to Today

As nominees to the Supreme Court, Judges Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh were both selected by Republican presidents to replace retiring justices. Both attended Yale Law School and were judges on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. And both were accused of sexual misconduct.

Thomas now sits on the bench while Kavanaugh’s fate, nearly 27 years later, is yet to be decided.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee convenes to hear allegations of sexual assault made by Christine Blasey Ford against Kavanaugh, dating back to when they were both teenagers. Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have also publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct but were not scheduled to testify in front of the committee.

The following is a comparison of events leading up to Thursday’s hearing and the hearings in 1991.

1991

Anita Hill

At the time of the hearings in 1991, Hill was a law professor at the University of Oklahoma. Hill was born and raised in Oklahoma, attended Oklahoma State University and graduated from Yale Law School.

She said that Thomas made repeated overtures to her, which she rebuffed, while she was working for him in the Education Department and at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hill came forward after she was contacted by a Senate staff member who was investigating Thomas’ background.

2018

Christine Blasey Ford

Blasey, who is also known by her married name of Ford, is a professor at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at Stanford University’s medical school. She grew up in the Washington, D.C., suburbs and attended Holton-Arms, an elite high school for girls.

Women at Blasey’s high school often socialized with students from other private schools in the area, including Kavanaugh’s school. Blasey’s claim stems from a party that she believes occurred in 1982, when she and Kavanaugh were both high school students.

Blasey sent a letter detailing her allegations to the office of Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., her congresswoman, but asked for confidentiality. Eshoo’s office forwarded it to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democratic member on the Judiciary Committee. Feinstein released a statement after the initial round of hearings was completed, saying she had referred a matter involving Kavanaugh to the FBI, but did not give details about who or what it entailed. Days later, Ford gave an interview to The Washington Post, revealing her identity and describing the claims.

1991

Judge Clarence Thomas

Nominated by President George H.W. Bush to replace retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall, Thomas was on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He grew up poor in Jim Crow-era Georgia and moved in with his grandparents in Savannah when he was 7, the first time he lived in a house with a toilet.

Thomas credits his grandfather for his success in encouraging hard work and his continuing education. He attended the College of the Holy Cross and Yale Law School.

Thomas worked in the Reagan administration, first in the Department of Education and then at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

2018

Judge Brett Kavanaugh

President Donald Trump selected Kavanaugh to fill the seat vacated by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who retired in July. Kavanaugh, whose mother was also a judge, attended Georgetown Preparatory School, an elite all-boys high school in the Washington suburbs, and then Yale University for his undergraduate studies and law school.

Pages from Kavanaugh’s 1982 calendar, which he released in response to Blasey’s claims, show his summer days were often spent at the beach, going to movies, working out or hanging out with his friends.

He was a member of the team, led by Ken Starr, that investigated President Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky and later worked in President George W. Bush’s administration. Like Thomas, Kavanaugh was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Three members of the Judiciary Committee now were also on the panel during Thomas’ confirmation hearings: Sens. Charles Grassley — the current chairman — Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy.

The image in 1991 of the panel — all white men — repeatedly asking an African-American woman to answer, in graphic detail, questions about sexual harassment prompted outrage.

This time around, Republicans have opted to bring in an outside litigator who specializes in sexual crimes, Rachel Mitchell, to question Blasey. The move allows the 11 Republicans on the committee — all white men — to avoid the optics on national television of them grilling Blasey. Democratic senators on the committee, some of whom are considered likely 2020 presidential candidates, will question Blasey.

1991

Thomas was narrowly confirmed by a vote of 52-48.

2018

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote Friday morning to move the confirmation process to a full vote. Kavanaugh’s fate is still in question.