Just turn the page........
I’ve been interested in the changing alchohol laws in the 80’s, specifically in Maryland and in Connecticut, where Brett Kavanaugh went to Georgetown Preparatory School and to Yale University and Yale Law. The reason for my interest is that I wanted to know if Brett Kavanaugh was ever legal to drink in high school and at precisely what age he was legal in college. I discovered a weird though likely meaningless coincidence: July 1, 1982 was the date that Maryland raised the legal drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one.
First, a jump back in time, to the early 1980’s. The transition of the legal age from eighteen to twenty-one was a big deal back in the ‘80s. I was past twenty-one by that time, but I remember the chaos the age change caused for many, including alcohol vendors and nightclubs, restaurants and private events where alcohol was offered for sale —also colleges and universities, to name just a few. And of course there were the people. I particularly remember the resentment of the young men and women who were close to being legal under the old law (and therefore in most states also close to being grandfathered into legal status under the new law), only to have that snatched away by a fluke of the intersection state legislation and each individual’s chance date of birth. None of this was particularly important to me in Colorado in the 80’s. But all of it sure was a big deal to many, many people.
July 1, 1982 is the day that Brett Kavanaugh joined the group of “close-but-not-quite-close-enough” seventeen year olds who would never be legal to drink at the age of eighteen. I think this is a big deal because it reveals how much Kavanaugh has mislead and outright lied about his drinking status in high school. He was never of age in high school. And it turns out he wasn’t legal for quite some time in college. Details to follow below.
But first, there’s another reason I think the July 1, 1982 Maryland transition date could be significant. Perhaps it is a date memorable enough that it could jog the memory of beer lover Brett Kavanaugh to remember what he was doing on that date and associated days in the summer of 1982. And maybe it would do the same for some of his friends. That memory jog would, of course, only be helpful to someone who wanted to remember.
Memory jog or not, the truth is that the legal significance of July 1, 1982 is proof that Kavanaugh has repeatedly mislead and out right lied about legal vs illegal use of alchohol by himself and his classmates. Kavanaugh has stated publically, in his Fox interview and, IIRC, under oath, that he had legal access to alchohol in high school. That has been debunked by numerous sources. Still, I was curious about the exact dates involved, and a quick check online reveals clearly that Kavanaugh was never legal to drink in high school. In fact, among his classmates, only the odd few who were born before July 1, 1964 were legal. (It was not at all common in the ‘70’s for parents to hold students back from standard school eligibility dates.)
Kavanaugh did not reach 18 until February 12, 1983, and he therefore did not reach the legal age for alcohol in Maryland until February 12, 1986. And, as far as drinking went, Kavanaugh’s choice of Yale for his college years was only marginally better. On July 1 in 1982, Connecticut raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 19, then from 19 to 20 on the same date in 83. So Kavanaugh was not legal to drink at Yale until his 20th birthday, February 12, 1985. That was more than halfway through his second year, and thirty months after the summer of ‘82.
For those who want to know, Mark Judge is older than Kavanaugh. However, he too was unfortunate enough to have a birthdate too late to “squeak in” to legal age in Maryland before it was raised. Judge’s birthdate is September 24, 1964.
Given the relationship Mark Judge admits to having had with alchohol, and knowing by his own admission ( sometimes begrudgingly, sometimes defiantly) that Judge Kavanaugh “loves beer,” and also knowing that drinking has a prominent place in Kavanaugh’s diaries, it stands to reason that Judge and Kavanaugh would mark July 1, 1982 as an important date—and not in a good way—in their lives. Probably many of their friends, did too.
I thought it was at least somewhat ironic that, as I researched the transition day for drinking age, it emerged as July 1, 1982. And this date has started to be a day of interest for other reasons. Dr Ford has not herself suggested that July 1st is the date on which she was assaulted.
But others, perhaps including GOP-appointed interrogator Rachel Mitchell, have pointed to that date as a logical possibility for the events Dr Ford described in her testimony. It does seem an interesting possibility, as Kavanaugh puts a number of people Dr Ford described as participants at a party or “gathering” together on that date according to his calendar diaries. July 1st also fits with the Mark Judge Safeway encounter, which Dr Ford described as happening six to eight weeks later.
So, the summer of 1982 happened a long time ago. My younger daughter, now 35, wasn’t even “in progress” until the start of autumn. But July 1, 1982 is probably a day that most people who were then seventeen year olds will remember at least vaguely, if not well. Many others might recall that day, as the change in legal drinking age affected clerks and waitresses, store and business managers, frats and sororities, concert and ballgame vendors….. But my best guess is that nobody is more likely to remember that day than certain seventeen year olds who loved beer!
I though this might be of interest to some. I also thought the coincidence of the dates somewhat interesting as well. And since nobody else did the research and posted it for me, I finally got around to checking out the legal age dates and confirmed there pretty much wouldn’t have been anyone legal to drink in Kavanaugh’s class of ‘83 at any time in high school. Pretty much no one.
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