We, the undersigned writers of Maine, have sent the following letter by email and snail mail to Sen. Susan Collins in advance of the vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh, urging her to vote “no.”

“Dear Sen. Collins,

“Putting aside for the moment the possibility that Brett Kavanaugh was a sexual predator in his youth, he is still unfit to be on the Supreme Court. In his recent testimony to Congress, he showed himself to be untruthful, temperamentally unsuited and driven by partisanship. Supreme Court justices need not be paragons, but they should tell the truth under oath, demonstrate a measure of emotional self-control and eschew political bias.

“His lies and self-serving exaggerations (words matter to us writers), as well as his snarling hostility toward women with the temerity to question him, don’t suggest a person who is deeply committed to the principles of fairness, or, for that matter, objective truth. Indeed, a magistrate on a county bench ought to be able to clear a bar as low as this one. The fact that Brett Kavanaugh couldn’t should be disqualifying. There are many viable, well-qualified candidates for this seat. To vote to confirm Kavanaugh, you would have to be confident that he wouldn’t abuse his power. Are you?”

We are joined by: Stephen King, Jessica Anthony, Monica Wood, Melissa Coleman, Joshua Bodwell, Margaret Broucek, Alex Irvine, Jule Selbo, Lewis Robinson, Lincoln Paine, Lesley Heiser, Susan Conley, Ron Currie, Frank O. Smith, Debra Spark, Desi Van Til, Genevieve Morgan, Gerry Boyle, Cathie Pelletier, Christina Baker Kline, Adrian Blevins, Tanya Sheehan, Melissa Senate, Bill Roorbach, Deborah Joy Corey, Patricia O’Donnell, Jeffrey Thomson, Ann Beattie, Brian Kevin, Mike Paterniti, Amy MacDonald, Katy Kelleher, Virginia Wright, Sarah Stebbins, Caitlin Shetterly, Jodi Paloni, Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, Candace Karu, Sarah Braunstein, Lily King, Sara Anne Donnelly, Sara Corbett, Rebecca Falzano, Lisa Carey, Melissa Kim, Edgar Allen Beem, Amy Neswald, Kate Flora, Allison Paige, Wesley McNair, Caitlin Scholl, Clint Willis, Carl Little, Susan Grisanti, Kathryn Miles, Don J. Snyder, Daniel Kany, Melissa Sweet, Richard Foerster, Liza Bakewell, Arielle Greenberg, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Elizabeth Sholl, Suzanne Rico, Cate Marvin, Elizabeth Peavey, Nathaniel Bellows, Elizabeth Atkinson, Caitlin Gilmet, Michaela Cavallaro, Elizabeth Strout, Bunny McBride, Joyce Kryszak, Jennifer Banash, Katherine Gaudet, Nicholson Baker, Kerri Arsenault, Susan Hand Shetterly, Julia Bouwsma, Penny Guisinger, Tanya Whiton, Jonathan Lethem, Ayelet Waldman, Michael Chabon, John Hodgman, Ben Marcus, Heidi Julavits, Ann Packer and Rafael Yglesias.

Kate Christensen

Portland

Richard Russo

Portland

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Letter to the editor: Sen. Collins must protect high court's credibility, vote 'no' on Kavanaugh

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