Kavanaugh and the Crime of Bearing False Witness

It’s now been over a week since The New York Times correctly retracted its slanderous libel against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It turns out the “new allegation” isn’t supported by the victim, a fact many believed was purposely left omitted from their story.

Despite this very public information, Presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris, Liz Warren, Beto O’Rourke, Julián Castro, Cory Booker, and Pete Buttigieg have not rescinded their demand for Kavanaugh to be impeached.

This has led me to write about the treacherous crime of bearing false witness.

The Book of Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 17, says this:

It’s true that we are apt to believe the first story that we hear, especially if it tends to confirm what we already suspect, and especially when it’s something that supports our pre-existing agenda.

However, this Proverb is a solemn warning to us to be careful to listen to both sides of an issue before making a judgment.  More importantly, it requires that the one who is accused must have the opportunity to face and to cross-examine his accuser.

This is and has been a crucial underpinning of our system of justice for centuries.

Regrettably, in the emotionally charged climate surrounding many accusations in our current culture, many abandon this foundational principle of American jurisprudence.

This is a shame, but it is also a dangerous thing. To jettison due process and fundamental fairness is to put each and every one of us at risk.

Not only is, “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” one of the Ten Commandments that Moses holds in his hand atop the U.S. Supreme Court building, but it is also one of the firmest props of our Common Law legal system in America, a system based on and wholly influenced by God’s Law. 

You see, this commandment is a safety mechanism for all society to be protected against unjust criminal prosecution and penalty. It dissuades parties with personal vendettas and little to no evidence from bringing false accusations for fear that they may wind up on the judgment seat. This, of course, protects the innocent, which is the purpose of the Law.

I am sure that most of you reading have been falsely accused. Perhaps you have been accused of something that you not only did not do, but that you would not do and consider to be horrible and heinous?

Well, it happens more often than you might think. And it is a dreadful experience.

In my travels, I have frequently been on the receiving end of many false accusations. If this has happened to you, then I don’t have to tell you that the pain never totally goes away.

Regrettably, we are now living through a season of screeching and politically charged accusations demanding justice for the victims of abuse. And if the accusations are true, then punishment is well deserved so healing can take place.

The law, however, requires us to “inquire diligently;" for if these very serious accusations are false, then the accuser is the criminal and the accused is the actual victim.


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Video Column:  https://youtu.be/-1sHPcnkbjQ