New York law professors who joined more than 2,000 others nationwide in urging the Senate to vote against Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation say the allegations against him weren’t their only reason.

“I was honestly shocked by Judge Kavanaugh’s conduct at the Sept. 27 hearing. Checking your emotions at the door is a basic part of being a good judge. He is frustrated and feels targeted for partisan reasons. It may be only human to have such thoughts. But a judge does not say the things he did, and absolutely not in a prepared statement. A person who cannot stop to think things over—he had more than ample time!—and express himself professionally is not fit for the job he currently holds, let alone the one he seeks.” —James Grimmelmann, Cornell Law School

“Like many others, I am extremely concerned about what Judge Kavanaugh’s elevation to the Supreme Court would likely to do to the legitimacy and authority of the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh’s appearance before the Senate was disqualifying in terms of judicial temperament and now raises questions surrounding the legitimacy of the judiciary to all parties and nonparties, raises genuine issues about his need to recuse from many legal disputes, and reflected a complete lack of decorum.” —Susan Strum, Columbia Law School

“Although I was not surprised that Judge Kavanaugh was angry in his testimony, I was shocked and appalled by the ideological tirade against basically the entire political left and the bizarre descent into hyperpartisan conspiracy theory. My immediate reaction was, ‘Wow, he really should have had somebody besides an adoring law clerk read that.’ His claim of sole authorship of something that sounded like the worst of talk radio bloviation was deeply unsettling. I clerked for a prominent Republican judge, and I’ve never heard anything remotely like that screed from him—not in public, not in chambers, not then, and not now. It would simply never happen. I know lack of judicial temperament when I see it.” —J. Stephen Clark, Albany Law School

“If Kavanaugh is confirmed after his petulant and entitled partisan rant in front of the Senate and the people, I don’t think I will be able to teach his opinions to the next generation of students—at least without always mentioning the illegitimacy of the institution he took down with him. It isn’t like we don’t all know there are partisan lines on the Supreme Court. But we try to help our students not to be lazy and to help them see that legal arguments can overcome political ones in a wide range of cases. Having violated norms of comportment (just like the President who nominated him), Kavanaugh—if confirmed—will have stained an important office in our government that will be hard to clean up for generations to come.” —Ethan J. Leib, Fordham Law School