00:00Senator Klobenshire. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'm sorry, what did you call me?
00:08I called you Mr. Chairman. Well, thank you. We're all calling you that right now,
00:11because you are holding the gavel, sir. I never called him Mr. Chairman.
00:18All right, Mr. Meredith, as Chief Deputy Counsel to the Governor of Kentucky, you defended,
00:24as my colleagues have discussed, you defended a law that imposed severe and medically unnecessary
00:30licensing regulations on clinics. That law would have had the effect of closing what was at the time
00:35the last remaining abortion clinic in Kentucky. You argued that the impact of closing Kentucky's
00:41last abortion clinic would be essentially none for women. Why did you argue that closing the
00:49clinic would not have an impact on the women of Kentucky? Senator, my recollection of that
00:57argument is that, of course, now we are under the regime governed by the Dobbs case, but at the time
01:03we were under the Roe and Casey regime. And my recollection of that argument was that Casey,
01:12I believe, had said it's not an undue burden to have to travel up to 150 miles to obtain an
01:19abortion. And my recollection is that the evidence in the record showed that no one or almost no one
01:27would have to travel more than 150 miles to obtain an abortion should that clinic close because
01:33Kentucky's geography is such that all of the population lives within 150 miles of facilities
01:41in other states, Senator. But is it true that the closure at the time would have required women to
01:47leave the state and travel up to the 150 miles if they needed health care?
01:54I think that's right. But Senator, one thing to keep in mind is the unique geography of Kentucky is
01:59such that many, many parts of Kentucky are much, much closer to facilities in other states than to that
02:07one facility in Louisville. So for instance, you know, if you lived in southern Kentucky, you might be
02:12closer to Nashville or Knoxville than to Louisville or Oregon. So it was that that was the nature of that argument,
02:18Senator.
02:18Last month was the 60th anniversary of Griswold, which established the right to contraception.
02:27In the Dobbs case, the Supreme Court clarified that its opinion does not threaten Griswold.
02:34They said nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do
02:39not concern abortion. If confirmed, will you commit to adhering to the precedent established by Griswold
02:45and upholding the right, upholding the right to contraception?
02:50Senator, I can commit to you that that I will follow and faithfully apply all binding precedents
02:55of the United States Supreme Court.
02:57Along those lines, Mr. Mercer, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his most recent end of year report
03:03that disregarding federal court rulings is, quote, dangerous, end quote, end quote, must be soundly
03:10rejected, end quote. Do you agree with Chief Justice Roberts that any suggestion of disregarding a court's
03:15ruling must be soundly rejected?
03:20Senator, I certainly have always advised clients to comply with court orders, and I believe that
03:26that is an essential feature. There, I believe, are extremely rare circumstances in which there
03:33may be a basis to challenge the existence of a court order. But again, throughout the entirety of
03:40my career, and if I have the honor of being confirmed, it will be my expectation that any party subject to
03:46an order that I issue would follow it.
03:49Okay, but I think he was talking about not people appealing court rulings through the regular course.
03:54He said disregarding court rulings. And do you believe, agree with him that this should be soundly rejected?
04:01Senator, I believe that parties should comply with court orders.
04:06I believe that if they believe there's a basis to not do that, they should seek relief.
04:13So yes, I believe that court orders should be followed. And what I'm trying to say is,
04:18I think there are extremely narrow circumstances where there may be a basis to say that there is
04:25a legal basis not to follow the order. It's extremely rare. I've never seen it. I've never counseled
04:30counseled a party for whom I'm representing to take that position. And it would be my position
04:36if confirmed that I, it'd be my expectation that all parties, regardless of who they represent,
04:42comply with any orders that I issue.
04:44Mr. Meredith, then I have one more question. Yeah.
04:47Could you just quickly answer that one about Roberts?
04:51Sure. Senator, my, I agree with the testimony of other witnesses who have appeared before this
04:59committee in recent months, like Judge Whitney Hermandorfer, Solicitor General John Sauer,
05:03Professor Kate Shaw, all of whom I understand to have said, the general rule is that a party before
05:10court must obey the court's order. However, there are potentially certain narrow exceptions to that.
05:16Okay. So this last thing, we went, we were talking about the Kentucky law and your role.
05:23And given the fact that you didn't look at this as an enormous burden for these women to go 150 miles
05:32and to go to another state, what would you say to litigants who question that you can be even
05:38handed in applying the law, including women trying to vindicate their rights?
05:43Senator, what I'll say to that is that I will be fair-minded and even-handed with all litigants
05:50in my court, should I be fortunate enough to be concerned? And I think you can look at the fact
05:55that attorneys from all across the political spectrum are supporting me, co-counsel, opposing
06:03counsel, people with all different viewpoints, and that's because they know that I understand the
06:07difference between being an advocate and being a judge. When I was an executive branch lawyer,
06:11it was my obligation to represent the Commonwealth and defend the Commonwealth's laws.
06:14But as a judge, it'll be my obligation to set aside all other personal beliefs, policy
06:20preferences, things of that nature, and just simply follow the law.
06:25Mr. Chairman, may I have permission to enter into the Record II article?
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