After his name appeared in support of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is being opposed in his own neighborhood.
The Washington Post published an article on Saturday on Lacie Wooten-protests Holway’s in the Chevy Chase neighborhood, which she shares with Kavanaugh.
One individual complained to the media about her techniques.
“That I don’t agree with. I think you vote, and you expand the court. You don’t go to a guy’s house,” the man said.
“I organize peaceful candlelit vigils in front of his house. … We’re about to get doomsday, so I’m not going to be civil to that man at all,” she replied.
Wooten-Holway, a mother of two, is a survivor of sexual assault.
“Neighbors tell her this kind of protest is disrespectful in a place they believe should be a private, family-friendly escape from bitter Washington politics,” the newspaper reported. “Other people cheer, saying they wouldn’t personally join but are encouraged to see someone speaking out.”
Wooten-Holway testified about being sexually attacked before the DC Judiciary and Public Safety Public Hearing in 2017.
Activists and residents of Washington, D.C., have yelled at politicians in restaurants and even danced outside members’ houses in an early morning “wake-up calls,” yet they often maintain a sense of anonymity and unity. Wooten-Holway lacks both.
Kavanaugh has met her. They used to coach middle school basketball for various teams in the same gym. At the grocery shop, she saw his wife, a town manager.
Even if she and the Kavanaughs have never met, she believes it is crucial for him to understand that people in his own community strongly oppose him.
She’s enraged at the prospect of a future without Roe v. Wade, in which a handful of primarily male justices make that decision for millions of women, and Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual assault and has denied it, could be one of them.
She claims that if the conservative justices are considering overturning a precedent that protects what people do with their own bodies, then no residential address is outside limits.
Wooten-Holway is organizing the sixth demonstration on his block on Saturday. Activists, students, and women who share their stories about why they chose to have an abortion usually make up the gathering, which might range from a few dozen to a few hundred individuals.
Wooten-Holway sometimes wonders if the protests are worth the price she and her family have already paid for speaking up.
The couple that passed Wooten-Holway on Wednesday night agreed with her basic purpose for protesting, as do the majority of Americans who believe the Supreme Court should protect Roe v. Wade. They were aware that Kavanaugh resided close by, but they were skeptical of Wooten techniques.
“I worry about lines being crossed,” the man said. “This constant escalation, I think, makes it dangerous.”
